West Ham United manager David Moyes has remained tight-lipped over his selection plans for the Hammers’ Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg against Gent.
West Ham take on Gent at the Ghelamco Arena on Thursday night in the first leg of their last-eight tie, a game that comes less than 72 hours before hosting Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
With the Hammers currently sat 14th in the Premier League and only three points clear of the relegation zone, managing his squad has become a challenge for the Scotsman and will remain a dilemma in the final two months of this season, with four of West Ham’s next six league games coming against ‘big six’ sides.
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Asked about his thoughts on team selection, Moyes has said he does not want to waste the opportunity of being in the quarter-final of a European competition, but knows that the schedule must be considered too.
“I’m not going to give too much away, but we’ve got a lot of important games coming up, as Gent do as well,” said Moyes.
“The chance to get through to a semi-final, we have to take every opportunity we can and we’re not going to give that up easily.”
One player who is set to be available is midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who missed the 1-0 win over Fulham on Saturday with a foot injury sustained in the 5-1 loss to Newcastle United a week ago.
However, Moyes expects Paqueta to be available for selection, having trained on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
“Paquetá got a bad knock against Newcastle, but he trained on Friday and we felt he might be okay but his ankle was just a bit too puffy,” Moyes added.
“He’s trained again and we think he’ll be okay for tomorrow.”
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