Kalvin Phillips may have to wait to make his West Ham debut with David Moyes not sure if the on-loan midfielder is fit enough to start against Bournemouth tomorrow night.
Phillips joined the Hammers last week on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season in a bid to increase his playing time ahead of this summer’s European Championship.
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The England international has not started a single Premier League game this term and may have to increase his match sharpness before being thrown in by Moyes.
The Scot said: “We’re talking about a boy with really good character. I heard Pep Guardiola’s comments about him and I would agree with those, having had him here for a week now.
“We want to see his footballing ability now. I think he’s got a chance now to get himself back on track. We’ve brought in another England international to our squad and that’s a big plus.
“Is he ready to start tomorrow? I don’t know. He’s not played much but I know he’s been training and keeping himself going. But I couldn’t give you an exact answer right now.”
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Mohammed Kudus is in contention to face the Cherries following Ghana’s exit from the African Cup of Nations but Edson Alvarez remains sidelined.
Bournemouth’s impressive Premier League form has stalled following back-to-back defeats to Tottenham and Liverpool but Moyes is still expecting a difficult game against Andoni Iraola’s men.
He added: “The manager has done a brilliant job with them.
“He’s got them playing really good and we’re up against some strong opposition. But we’re saying that every week, given how strong the league is.”
West Ham striker Danny Ings has been linked with a move ahead of tomorrow night’s transfer deadline but Moyes still sees him as part of his plans.
“We’re desperate for Danny to be the Danny we want to see, through his goals,” said the former Everton boss.
“When he arrived [last January] he got a couple of goals against Nottingham Forest. He’s not had as many opportunities due to different things, but I thought he played very well against Sheffield United.
“We played him in a deeper role and I hope he’s been saving his goalscoring opportunities for the weeks to come.”
