West Ham United boss David Moyes has admitted that he has a selection dilemma in defence for the Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against AZ Alkmaar.
The Hammers head to the Netherlands this week to take on AZ in Amsterdam on Thursday, with West Ham holding a one-goal advantage from the first leg after a 2-1 victory at the London Stadium last week.
But ahead of the second leg, Moyes was given food for thought by his side's performance against Brentford on Sunday as a much-changed Hammers team lost out 2-0 at the GTech Community Stadium.
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Moyes made nine changes to the side that won 2-1 against AZ, with Angelo Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd starting together at the heart of the Hammers' defence.
However, West Ham were deservedly beaten in west London, with the Bees dominant throughout the first half as they opened up a two-goal advantage, before the Hammers looked to try and fight back after the break.
And Moyes has said that he now has some decisions to make for the second leg of the Europa Conference League tie, with the Scot responding to a question over whether he now had a selection dilemma over who should play alongside Kurt Zouma in defence on Thursday.
In reply, Moyes said: "Yes. I agree with you. We need to get people who are going to be hard to play against and defend and be strong. I didn’t think we were tough enough in a lot of the things we did [at Brentford]."
Ogbonna has been a regular in the Hammers side in the Europa Conference League when fit this season, with the 34-year-old making 28 appearances in all competitions, although he missed the first leg through illness, before returning on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Aguerd has had an injury-hit first season at West Ham since his summer move from French side Rennes, featuring 27 times in total for the Hammers and scoring two goals. The 27-year-old played the full 90 minutes of the first leg of the tie last week and has started each of West Ham's last three fixtures in all competitions.
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