West Ham tonight face Bournemouth at London Stadium in what is seen as a must-win with the prize being a place in the top half of the league for the first time this season.

Its been a somewhat slow start for our Hammers this campaign, as our side adjusts with many new recruits to settle in, however there has been a lot of encouragement in recent games that David Moyes’ machine is starting to click.

One of the new faces who has many fans asking whether he has shown enough in the chances given that he is now worthy of a regular starting role in the team is Flynn Downes, who was given his first start to a Premier League match in the undeserved loss to Liverpool last week.

Downes has demonstrated his qualities in European competition this season already, having notched 3 man-of-the-match displays for our Hammers in an impressive campaign so far in the Europa Conference League.

This has presented Moyes with a dilemma, does he promote Downes on the back of his excellent form, or stick with his trusted troop in Tomas Soucek to partner Declan Rice, with many fans arguing the case for the signing from Swansea to make the step up.

Moyes is renowned for his loyalty towards his trusted allies however with our Premier League season in desperate need of a very good run of results, the argument is there that introducing Downes to play alongside our Hammers captain could prove more effective, especially with the summer signing from Swansea demonstrating his distribution techniques alongside a battling desire to fight for possession.

It is certainly a call Moyes needs to get correct as we face a Bournemouth side who have responded well since the introduction of former Hammer Gary O’Neil as interim manager to replace another former West Ham player Scott Parker, who was relieved of his duties in August.

The Cherries will come into this as underdogs but in the full knowledge that it is West Ham who will under the spotlight more, with Moyes’ side expected to get the points to start showing we are ready to challenge the elite in the Premier League once again.