Noble proud of West Ham for coping with injuries

Captain Mark Noble has praised the way West Ham have coped with a number of injuries.

Slaven Bilic’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by Premier League bottom club Aston Villa on Saturday, with Aaron Cresswell’s strike cancelled out by a Jordan Ayew penalty.

But the point came at a price as Cresswell suffered a hamstring problem and James Tomkins was also forced off with a head injury.

It remains to be seen if they will be available to face Southampton on Monday as injuries continue to hamper West Ham.

Striker Nikica Jelavic missed the stalemate at Villa Park and injuries to Andy Carroll (groin), Manuel Lanzini (thigh), Victor Moses (hamstring), Dimitri Payet (ankle) and Diafra Sakho (thigh).

“I’m the first one to say we have a good squad but we miss the players we’ve got,” Noble told West Ham TV.

“We miss the players who create stuff and score goals. Take away Jelavic, Carroll, Dimitri, Lanzini and Moses, it’s going to hurt any squad.

“We have managed to cope with it and I’m proud of the players for digging in and picking up the points.

“These teams are playing their full squads and we’re asking six or seven players to play when they are not fit. We lost Tomks at half-time and Cress with 20 minutes to go.

“We have come through a tough spell with a lot of games with a squad which is depleted but the boys have dug in well and I’m proud of them.”