Moyes won’t wind down Marko

WEST HAM manager David Moyes is relaxed about the possibility of Marko Arnautovic winding up the Stoke fans again tonight – as long as the Austrian striker keeps working hard for the team.

The ex-Stoke player annoyed the home supporters with a crossed-arms West Ham salute when the Hammers won 3-0 in the Potteries in December and had to be escorted off the field after being substituted. But Moyes said: “Let him get on with it and let him be Marko.

“Everybody likes the Marko they’ve seen the last six months, keep it going. As long as he gets the results.”

Moyes is not the only one to see something of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Arnautovic’s strutting, although he was more worried about what he saw as laziness before taking over from Slaven Bilic.

“I was concerned because I’d seen him play for Stoke sometimes and I didn’t think he did all the running back,” said Moyes.

Moving Arnautovic to a central striking role has improved his involvement and Moyes sees no reason why he would go back to his old ways. He said: “He has got the crowd from booing him to cheering him and becoming one of their heroes.

“That’s because of his energy, attitude and determination to turn the situation around. So why would he want to go back to where he was?”

Stoke head to London second from bottom and six points adrift of safety, while West Ham are 15th on 34 points, far from clear of danger themselves.