David Moyes will be a happy man today after guiding his West Ham side to 3 straight victories in all competitions to lift the mood and expectations in East London.

It has been a difficult start to the season, with our Hammers incurring 5 losses from the opening 7 games, but West Ham have responded well and there is belief now that a big corner is being turned as we look to emulate or better the successes of the last 2 campaigns.

Moyes’ newly acquired quality in depth has provided the manager with plenty of decisions to be made, with certain players performing well when called upon to put them very much in the boss’ thinking.

Sandwiched between 2 victories in the Premier League last week, Moyes’ side picked up a big win in Europe, having beaten Anderlecht in Belgium which is arguably our toughest fixture in the group.

A key performer in that game was Flynn Downes, who produced a sublime midfield performance which even made the Hammers boss declare him the best player on the pitch that night.

This also followed a similar man-of-the-match display against FCSB a few weeks earlier, which has now prompted many to question whether Downes should be given the chance in Premier League games to lineup alongside captain Declan Rice.

Tomas Soucek currently occupies that role, and the big call by Moyes to stick with the Czech international is another display of the managers loyalties to his players, with Soucek being a key cog on the Moyes machine since signing for the club almost 3 years ago.

It is fair to say Soucek responded to the loyalty shown in him, having put in a big shift in the 3-1 win over Fulham, however there is no dount Downes is very much breathing down the neck of the Czech. Moyes does have a history of staying loyal to players, but if Downes continues as he is then that loyalty in Soucek will only continue to be tested more.