Saturday 20 January 2018 19:02, UK
West Ham boss David Moyes has concerns about Manuel Lanzini's injury after the attacking midfielder limped off during the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.
Lanzini appeared to pull his hamstring in the second half at the London Stadium, and was replaced by Javier Hernandez, who scored the leveller for West Ham two minutes after Ryan Fraser's 71st-minute opener.
Aaron Cresswell also hobbled off for the Hammers, but Moyes was far more worried by the injury to Lanzini, who he labelled as irreplaceable when asked if that would cause him to dip into the transfer market this month.
"We've had a few injuries and we're just getting through. Behind the scenes we're just trying to nurse boys along," Moyes told Sky Sports after the match.
"We hope Mano's [Lanzini] isn't serious. Cressy is okay, but it's more the Lanzini one that we're worried about.
"I don't think you can suddenly say, okay we'll go out, see if someone else is out there waiting to be bought of the level of Lanzini, because I don't think you've got that.
"I think we will work with the players we've got, but we've got too many out injured at the moment.
"Ideally, if we got a couple of players to add to the squad, it would help us, but it's not always that easy to get the players you want. We're working hard and we'll keep trying to get someone."
The draw stretches West Ham's unbeaten run to five Premier League games, but Moyes was disappointed to see his side miss out on all three points at the London Stadium.
Asmir Begovic denied Marko Arnautovic from point-blank range in the first half, while the Bournemouth 'keeper also parried away Pablo Zabaleta's cross when Lanzini was about to pounce.
Moyes said it was some of West Ham's best football all season, though there will be a lingering disappointment as a victory could have fired them into the top half of the table.
"In the end, I wasn't unhappy with a point, but I have to say we missed some big chances which we could have got ourselves out of sight," Moyes added.
"I thought we played some of our best football this season, especially in the first half, but Bournemouth got strong in the second part of both halves, so in the end perhaps the draw was the right result.
"We won't to look there, but we're mindful that it won't take too much to slip down. It's another point to making sure we're in the right half of the league."
