Kudus gets heavy David Moyes hint for Villa start

Mohammed Kudus has received a heavy David Moyes hint he will get a start at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Moyes rarely describes new arrivals as being immediately ready to enter the first team reckoning but he has made some sort of exception in the case of Mo.

From the way he was talking in his presser ahead of the game at Villa on Sunday it seems the Ghana international has every chance of starting.

The manager has made it clear the player is 'very close' to making his first Premier League start for West Ham United.

Kudus, of course, did his chances no harm at all with a fabulous goal against Newcastle to ensure the Hammers took another point into the international break.

Should - as Moysie seems to be suggesting - he gets his chance on Sunday it will be fascinating to see who drops to the bench and I am not even going to try to work that one out.

Kudus deserves a chance having been impressive whenever he has appeared this season but his only starts so far have come in the Carabao Cup and the Europa League.

"He is very close to playing," Moyes said. "But to be fair to him, he was close when he arrived. Sometimes players come in at different levels of fitness and you need time to figure out where they are at, but Mo could play now and he has been playing.

"He's been playing for Ghana and he came off the bench [against Newcastle] and made a brilliant impact for us, and that's what we need. We need more than eleven players. We need a group of players who, when called on, can make a difference."