Moyes assures Hernandez of his place at West Ham

David Moyes has assured Javier Hernandez of his importance at West Ham following his appointment as manager.

The pair worked together whilst at Manchester United though the Mexico international was unfancied for much of Moyes' time in charge at Old Trafford.

West Ham 5/2 to beat Watford

Hernandez, who has already played more first-team football this season than he did under Moyes in Manchester, again finds himself working under the Scot ahead of a World Cup campaign.

But the Hammers boss has moved to reassure Hernandez of his place in his side.

“He’s a top goalscorer, a brilliant finisher,”Moyes told the Guardian.

“It was difficult for him at United because I had Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa, so there was lots of competition. But he’ll be treated the same here – if he’s playing well and scoring, no problems. 

"If he’s not, it will be the same as the rest.”

West Ham have won just two of their 11 Premier League games this season and find themselves in the bottom three in the rankings. 

Their early-season form saw Slaven Bilic lose his job as manager, with Moyes appointed as his successor, and the former United boss has demanded a reaction from his inherited squad.

Moyes added: “They need to be there to say: ‘Yeah, we know what we’re doing.’ Ultimately you organise them, do the work during the week, but then there is a responsibility. 

"That’s why the players are paid very good wages: they can’t be looking round and saying: ‘We want the manager to tell us what to do.’ They have to have a bit of responsibility themselves.”