Leicester City manager Brendan Rogders has urged West Ham’s ownership to stick with David Moyes for the long haul ahead of the two teams meeting at the King Power on Sunday lunchtime.
While Moyes’ job is in no way under threat just three games into the new season and off the back of a 4-0 thumping of Wolves in the Premier League, Moyes is favourite with many bookmakers to be the first top flight manager to be given the boot this season.
The Hammers manager hasn’t been on the touchline for the last three games having tested positive for coronavirus and is not expected to be in the dugout for the visit to Leicester this weekend as he is yet to return to work at Rush Green.
Moyes ten-day self-isolation period after his positive test expired on Thursday but he was not at training on Friday. Players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, who also contracted covid, were back at the training ground but the manager was not.
Assistant manager Alan Irvine is expected to take charge once again at Leicester with Moyes communicating to the dugout via telephone and first team coach Stuart Pearce.
Rodgers, whose side are flying at the top of the table after the first three matches of the 2020/21 campaign, had a message for Hammers chiefs David Sullivan and David Gold ahead of the match.
“I’m very confident that the longer David and his staff, Alan and Stuart. are there, then the more they grow because David is a proven manager,” the Foxes manager said at his pre-match press conference.
“Alan and Stuart are fantastic coaches and once they get their teeth into the group, make it a consistent group and get the organisation and the template of how they work then West Ham I am pretty sure will grow.
“As you say, the Arsenal result was unfortunate, they played very well, are difficult to beat, have speed on the counter attack, guys who are a threat.
“Then against Wolves, that was a fantastic result against a team that didn't concede many goals. To win 4-0 was a huge shot of confidence.
“They come at the weekend with a plan, they have threats we have to be ready for.”
At his own pre-match press conference, Irvine described the visit to Leicester as a “huge test” but if his Hammers players can perform to the levels they have done in their last two previous league games, they can be “competitive” against the League Leaders.
