David Moyes has called on West Ham to prove they can cope without Declan Rice when they head to Watford in the Premier League.
The Hammers will be missing their star man at Vicarage Road through suspension after he collected a fifth booking of the season against Southampton.
“He’s been a huge part of how we play and what we’ve done,” said Hammers boss Moyes.
“If you look back to last year we lost a couple of big games without him. He’s really important, he’s a big member of the team here, but we knew he was only one booking away and it’s happened.”
Injuries are also hurting West Ham with defenders Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell all sidelined.
The Hammers looked weary as they slipped to a 3-2 home defeat to Southampton and Moyes needs to pick his players up to face a Hornets side who have not had a match since December 10.
“I’m hoping we can go again, and to get the players ready,” added the Scot. “It’s a difficult time for the players who are playing but I hope we can get them all fit and ready to play. And I’m obviously hoping we can improve the performances as well.
“Recovery is huge. But one day in football isn’t enough and that’s where the unfairness comes.
“You have to remember Watford haven’t played for about 18 days. I don’t know if that lies easy with me. But that’s what we have to do.”
The Hammers have slipped to sixth in the table after a run of just one win in seven matches, and Moyes knows they risk undermining all their hard work over the first half of the season.
“I think the standards have been good. We’d like to get back to normal and get players more consistent,” he said.
“Last season, coming into January and February we got stronger so I’ve got that on my mind. We don’t want to give games up cheaply and we have to do better than against Southampton.”
