West Ham United boss David Moyes has refused to put a timescale on the knee injury sustained by midfielder DeclanRice when he was asked by reporters during his pre-match presser on Friday ahead of the league game with Leicester City on Sunday in what could be a crucial game in the race to qualify for Champions League football next season.
The Hammers were dealt a big blow last week when news broke that Rice could be out for around a month with a knee problem. Rice picked up the injury while he was away on international duty with his country, England. The injury forced him to missthe last league game, a 3-2 away victory over Wolves. Rice had featured for the Hammers in every minute of the current Premier League season before the Wolves game at the Molineux on Monday night.
West Ham were able to beat Wolves without an influential player like Rice though they had to hang on to the three points for the final minutes of the game. Rice is the vice-captain in the team and his place in the starting XI was taken by his captain, Mark Noble, who’s an Hammers legend.The Hammers knew a win over Wolves would take them above London rivals Chelsea into the much coveted fourth spot and that was what happened.
The Hammers started last weekend in fifth position and two points off Chelsea in fourth place. They were given the chance to secure fourth spot when the Blues were stunned 5-2 at home by relegation threatened West Brom. Chelsea played around an hour with ten following the dismissal of Brazilian defender Thiago Silva. West Hamwere able to beat Wolves to capitalise on the slip up from their London rivals and move into the fourth and final Champions League spot.