West Ham United boss David Moyes has admitted that he will consider starting Declan Rice at centre-back for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Lyon on Thursday.
The Hammers are light in terms of central defensive options, with Kurt Zouma joining Angelo Ogbonna on the treatment table with a knee injury.
Craig Dawson and Issa Diop are the two most likely candidates to start at centre-back, but Moyes has not ruled out starting Rice in the heart of the defence.
"Declan has played [at centre-back] before and would give us a different dimension. We've got that possibility," the Scotsman told reporters on Wednesday.
"But we know he's a big miss if we take him out of the middle of the pitch. We have to consider that. Overall, we have to use what we have."
Rice is just one booking away from a suspension heading into Thursday's clash, but Moyes stated that he intends to start his best players in France and reiterated that he is aware of the risk the midfielder faces.
After the Hammers played out a 1-1 draw with 10 men against Lyon in the first leg last week, the second leg is nicely poised with both sides hoping to advance to the semi-finals.
Oliver Thomas
