West Ham United manager David Moyes has said that he will not rush his use of summer signing Flynn Downes after his recent performances in the Europa Conference League.
Downes has made three starts for the Hammers since leaving Swansea City in the summer to join the club he has supported all of his life.
Of those three starts, two have come in the past eight days during meetings with Belgian giants Anderlecht, with Downes playing starring roles in 1-0 and 2-1 victories respectively, quickly becoming popular with the fans who have so far only seen a glimpse of Brentwood-born midfielder in action.
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While Downes has made seven West Ham appearances so far, he has played for just two minutes in the Premier League since his move, with 298 of his 300 minutes so far coming across five outings in the Europa Conference League.
Some supporters have hoped to see more of Downes in the Premier League so far, but Moyes has warned that he has previously had experience with signing Championship players and not using them straight away that has led to long-term success.
While in charge of former club Everton, Moyes signed centre-back Phil Jagielka from Sheffield United shortly after they were relegated to the Championship, as well as left-back Leighton Baines from Wigan Athletic, shortly after they avoided relegation via a single goal.
Moyes is pleased with the progress Downes has made so far but has looked back to the summer of 2007 when he signed Jagielka and Baines, who went on to play a combined total of 792 appearances in the Premier League and 70 international caps for England, suggesting he did not rush them and in the long run, it worked out better, eyeing a similar strategy with Downes.
“Going exactly the way you want it,” Moyes told football.london. “He started slow and I said this because for reference, I had the likes of Leighton Baines, I had Phil Jagielka who I took both from the Championship teams, none of them probably got in the team for six months in the early days and they both went on to win I don’t know how many caps [for England].
“It takes time and if everybody wants to see people right away, they’ve got to trust the manager. The manager is seeing it and doing the right thing and my experience will tell me.
“Flynn has done very well in the two games. Bits of last night, very good, bits of it, he has to do better. He needs to start expanding his game as a midfield player, but he’s got a lot of good things going for him. I’ll bring him on at the right speed and the right time but I’ve been pleased with what he’s been doing.”
Downes’ move to West Ham came after just 76 Championship appearances, 37 of which came during his sole season in south Wales with Swansea.
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