West Ham boss David Moyes has denied dropping captain Mark Noble to make a point - but he would not guarantee the long-serving midfielder a recall.

Moyes criticised some "players with big reputations" after a 2-0 defeat to Watford in his first game in charge, and Noble was the biggest casualty when the Hammers faced Leicester last Friday night.

An encouraging 1-1 draw against the Foxes means Moyes is unlikely to make drastic changes when he takes West Ham to his former club Everton on Wednesday night.

But Moyes insisted: "It wasn't anything to do with making a statement.

"We decided to go with a bit more pace. That's why we did it.

"If anyone rallies West Ham United and the players then it's Mark Noble.

"I'm no expert on Mark, I've only been here two weeks, but the people who know him speak so highly of him.

"I can only say in the time I've been with him, even today, he's driving everyone on, making sure we do the right things in training and making sure the standards are right.

"He responded as you would expect, the right way, but he also wants to play and be part of the team.

"Will he be in the team? He'll certainly be a part of the squad. We'll need to wait and see we have competition for places, but there is no problem playing him because he's a good player."

Moyes heads back to Goodison Park, where he spent 11 successful years, with his old club in some disarray.

They are yet to find a new manager five weeks after sacking Ronald Koeman, with Moyes' former defender David Unsworth still manning the fort.

Unsworth has picked up just one win from seven matches in charge, the last two of which were a 5-1 Europa League defeat by Atalanta and Sunday's 4-1 loss at Southampton.

But Moyes added: "Is there room for sentiment? No, because I need to win with West Ham.

"It's really important we try to pick up three points. We got our first point last week and we need a first clean sheet and a first three points.

"I'm hoping to get at least one of them when I go back to Goodison."