West Ham struck by another blow ahead of Sheffield United and David Moyes has few complaints

David Moyes conceded he could have few complaints with a decision that means he is missing another key player for West Ham's trip to face Sheffield United on Sunday.

Already frustrated by failing to see off Bristol City in the FA Cup third round, the replay denied Moyes the opportunity to rest his players during the winter break ahead of taking on the Blades at Bramall Lane.

Injuries have been piling up for the Hammers with Jarrord Bowen and Lucas Paqueta missing Tuesday night's replay with the Robins and the latter will definitely not be facing United on Sunday, while Moyes is sweating on the fitness of Bowen.

Michail Antonio, among others, is also injured while Mohammed Kudus is on AFCON duty meaning that the red card and subsequent suspension picked up by Said Benrahma in a replay which saw West Ham dumped out of the FA Cup after a 1-0 defeat by City, is all the more galling.

Moyes took the referee's decision on the chin, though he wasn't overly happy with some of the tackles put in by the home side, not least the robust challenge by Joe Williams which saw Benrahma react by kicking out at his opponent and being sent off.

“I’ve had a look at it and I don’t think we can have any complaints. I don’t think his reaction was correct. It was a sending-off," admitted Moyes. “I wasn’t sure about the tackle on him. That might have been questionable. I thought in game-time it was a pretty hefty challenge.

“I’m not sure the referee moved in quick enough to deal with the first challenge, which allowed something else to happen. There was one on Danny Ings as well that was not the best either.”

Sheffield United have been afforded the luxury of having an extended break since they beat Gillingham in the third round of the FA Cup last weekend, giving them two full weeks of recovery and time to work on the training ground which returning manager Chris Wilder has had little of, such was the busy schedule since he took charge again.

For the Hammers, defender Aaron Cresswell is hoping he and his team mates are able to bounce back from the defeat to Bristol City as they now place their focus on the Blades.

“Credit to Bristol City, but we know we weren’t good enough tonight and it’s up to us to react now,” said Cresswell. “We wanted to go as far as possible in the FA Cup - as we do in every competition we play in - so we’re all gutted we’re out.

“We’ll go back to the training ground and do what we can to make sure we’re ready for Sunday now. We have another big game back in the Premier League, and hopefully we can come back from that with the right result.”