David Moyes defends his lack of substitutions as he cites Man City’s Pep Guardiola as the reason why he won’t waste West Ham’s options off the bench

• West Ham’s David Moyes has made just 41 subs this season, the league’s lowest
• He cites Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola while defending his lack of changes
• Man City have dipped, but Gary Neville is WRONG to say they’re complacent – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off

David Moyes has cited Pep Guardiola when defending his lack of substitutions, saying it is unfair to single out West Ham for criticism when the manager of defending champions Manchester City also makes minimal changes.

No Premier League boss has made fewer subs than Moyes’s 41 this season.

His first change comes on average in the 70th minute, which is the latest of any boss in this campaign.

Hammers supporters have complained about Moyes’s reluctance to tweak his team, despite the Scot overseeing an impressive four-game unbeaten run ahead of Sunday’s trip across London to Fulham.

In Thursday’s 2-1 win over Tottenham, he used a single sub — replacing forward Mohammed Kudus in the 88th minute.

West Ham manager David Moyes has defended his lack of substitutes during league games

Moyes has cited Man City’s Pep Guardiola among his reasoning, noting their minimal changes

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Asked if he would continue with the approach, Moyes said: ‘Pep does it a lot, doesn’t he? I don’t know if you’ve mentioned it to Pep, but we just felt we had players on the pitch (against Tottenham) who were doing it.

‘Sometimes making changes, freshness helps, but I didn’t want to bring people into the game who were not up to the speed of the game.

‘It was so quick with the intensity and the jobs players were doing.

‘Our injury record this year has been incredible. We’re probably one of the clubs with the least injuries, but we understand there will be a period where it comes.

‘I will need to find ways of getting others on (the pitch) but they need to play themselves into the team and into form as well. They need to show that I can put them in.’

The West Ham subs snub adds to the workload for Moyes’s regular starters. Lucas Paqueta, who put in a big defensive shift from the left wing on Thursday, complained of tight calves in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but played on. ‘I’ve got to see how much they can keep playing,’ Moyes said of his first-choice stars. ‘I’m needing the other players to show me their form when they’re given the opportunities.’

Moyes is not sure West Ham can trouble the Premier League’s top six this season, despite them trailing sixth-placed Manchester United by only three points.

Yet a win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday could take them into the European places in the table.

Moyes’s first change comes on average in the 70th minute, the latest of any boss this season

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