Moyes motivating Hammers to play better, insists Rice

Declan Rice insists confidence is returning to West Ham under David Moyes.

The Hammers were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Everton on Saturday after Dominic Calvert-Lewin cancelled out Issa Diop’s header.

But a point was better than nothing from a match West Ham might very well had lost before Moyes replaced Manuel Pellegrini as manager last month.

“If you look at the chances we created in the first half, realistically we should’ve been about three up. We missed some great chances,” England midfielder Rice told the club website.

“The manager’s said that, in the position we are in, they’re the ones you’ve got to take. We managed to get a goal in front and then switched off just before half-time, and then the rest of the game was a bit stretched.

“I think you can see with us on the pitch we have improved. We’re defending better now, we’re in better shape, we’re moving the ball around better, we’re switching it better.

“Football’s all about confidence, to be honest, and I think the lads have got that back. It was tough to take (losing) at Sheffield United and we should have won against Everton, but with those improvements we’ve just got to get going.”

Calvert-Lewin’s far-post header moments before half-time was his 11th goal of the season.

He told the club website: “I thought we underperformed. It was disappointing not to play to our strengths and the patterns of play we know we can execute.

“It was disappointing not to kick on from the equaliser. In the end, it’s a good point but we know all three were there for the taking.

“I’m happy to get on the scoresheet again today and help my team to get the point in the end. As I said, we could have performed better and it’s on to (Newcastle) on Tuesday now and we know we have to kick on from here.”