David Moyes has appealed to Hammers fans to get behind Kalvin Phillips, following an incident outside St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.
The on-loan Hammers midfielder was seen raising his middle finger to a ‘fan’ who verbally abused the 28-year-old as he approached the team bus in the wake of United’s 4-3 defeat.
And speaking ahead of Tuesday night’s London derby with Tottenham in Stratford, Hammers boss Moyes appealed to (real) supporters, imploring them to help Phillips recapture his form.
“Kalvin’s a human being and what he needs is support and people to help him, which is what we’ll do,” said Moyes in response to a question regarding the player’s form.
“We need our fans to give all our players the support they require. Kalvin’s a really good player and I do believe we can still make something out of the time we’ve got with him here.”
Meanwhile Moyes confirmed that Alphonse Areola will be unavailable for tomorrow night’s fixture having picked up a knock at Newcastle which required his replacement at half time – but had good news regarding another recent omission.
“Alphonse has hurt his groin, so at the moment it looks like he’s going to be out for a little bit,” revealed Moyes.
“We hope it’s not too serious but Lukasz Fabianski will come in. Nayef Aguerd’s trained today so we’ll see how he and everyone else is before tomorrow.”
David Moyes has called upon West Ham fans to support Kalvin Phillips in the wake of an incident outside St James’ Park following their 4-3 defeat against Newcastle. Phillips, who is on loan with the Hammers, was captured raising his middle finger to a verbal abuser as he approached the team bus.