West Ham manager David Moyes prepared to sacrifice FA Cup to stay in Premier League
WEST HAM face FA Cup humiliation next weekend with boss David Moyes prepared to sacrifice progress in the competition in favour of Premier League survival.
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The Hammers head to League One promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury in round three on Sunday for what will be their third match in just six days.
They host fellow strugglers West Brom tonight before a rearranged Wembley trip to London rivals Tottenham on Thursday.
The Spurs clash was originally due to be played on December 30, then moved to New Year’s Eve for television, only to be rescheduled again due to safety concerns.
That decision has baffled Moyes, who said: “Why was it not played on the Saturday?
“I can imagine the questions when we get to the Cup game and me and the players are going to be coming in with tongues hanging out. I don’t see why it couldn’t be played on Saturday.”
I couldn’t do it if I thought it would affect the Premier League
Many West Ham fans were unhappy when former manager Sam Allardyce fielded an under-strength side in an FA Cup third-round tie at Nottingham Forest, which they lost 5-0, in order to concentrate on their relegation battle.
Moyes added: “I remember that. But do you not think the position you are in now the focus would only be on your Premier League status?
“Because if you’ve not got Premier League status, and then you’re talking about winning the Cup, you’ve still got to beat all the teams to get there.
“So it’s a difficult one, it’s not an easy one to say what would be the way.
“Do I want to win the FA Cup? One hundred per cent. But I don’t think it can be where we can damage our league season.
“And actually if we got through to the next round our next two games are on the Tuesday against Crystal Palace and Brighton on the Saturday after the fourth round.
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“So in a way, to play the FA Cup and then you’ve got a Premier League game on the Tuesday night and a Premier League game the following Saturday, you are saying ‘wait a minute here, it’s nearly becoming impossible for us to find the players’.
“If I could win the cup I would definitely try to win the cup, but I couldn’t do it if I thought it would affect the Premier League.”
Moyes hopes to have captain Mark Noble available to face West Brom after a hamstring injury but winger Michail Antonio could miss out again with a groin problem.
