Moyes puts his faith in Mario

DAVID Moyes hopes Joao Mario can “hit the ground running” at injuryravaged West Ham.

But the Scot fears the Portugal midfielder may end up as the only new face at the London Stadium this month.

Mario arrived yesterday for a medical ahead of a loan from Inter Milan until the end of the season. It is fair to say neither the player nor his new manager initially thrilled the arrangement.

Mario, 25, was reluctant to move to a club in a relegation battle, and Moyes wanted to bring in players with Premier League experience.

But a lack of game time in Italy ahead of the impending World Cup finals and an injury crisis were about at West Ham that sees seven experienced stars miss tomorrow’s FA Cup trip to Wigan ended up removing all barriers.

Moyes said: “My biggest concern is him getting used to the Premier League, the speed and competitiveness compared to Italy or Portugal.

“His ability is not in question, he’s proved it, and I hope he can hit the ground running. At the moment I can’t say there’s any guarantee there will be anybody else coming. It’s really difficult.”

First-choice front duo Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini are the latest to join an injury list alongside forwards Andy Carroll, Michail Antonio and Diafra Sakho. And that has seen Swansea’s bid to re-sign Andre Ayew knocked back.