Rice will get no favours from us, says Moyes
DAVID MOYES has warned former West Ham captain Declan Rice not to expect any favours from his old pals.
But the Scot insists it would be misguided to assume that Manchester City will stroll to a title-sealing win tomorrow.
The Hammers must deny Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions if Rice’s Arsenal are to stand any chance of winning the league.
But Moyes, who is taking charge of West Ham for the final time, is adamant his team’s sole focus is on their own performance.
“Everybody here loves Declan and remembers him, but we’re not doing it for Declan” Moyes said. “We’re doing it for ourselves, do the best we can.”
West Ham are guaranteed to finish ninth, regardless of results, and have lost their past eight games at the Etihad.
Yet Moyes (with
Rice after West
Ham’s Europa
Conference League triumph, right) says he feels no need to
“reassure Arsenal fans” that his team will be giving their all to end his second spell at the club on a high note.
“Football is a strange game, you never know when you’ll get opportunities to win. You have to take those opportunities when you can,” he added.
“Let’s be fair, it’s difficult to win at Manchester City at any time, especially when they know they’ve got to win a game to secure the championship.
“That puts us under pressure because of what Manchester City can do – but it puts Manchester City under pressure as well. We have to do everything we can to play the game and concentrate on ourselves.
“We’re not playing to make Manchester City win the Premier League and we’re not playing to make Arsenal win the Premier League.
“We’re playing for West Ham and we’re trying to win the game for West Ham.
“We can’t finish lower than ninth, which is a really good league position for West Ham. No matter the outcome, we’re in a strong position.”