West Ham ask Arsenal, Crystal Palace for friendlies ahead of Premier League restart
West Ham are planning a London derby double-header in their build-up to the restart of the Premier League.
They have contacted Arsenal and Crystal Palace in the hope of setting up friendly matches to put their players through their paces.
The Premier League has given clubs permission to arrange warm-up games now that training is stepping up ahead of the June 17 restart.
But there are strict rules which include teams not travelling further than 90 minutes and players must get there alone without the normal team bus.
West Ham also want to play teams they have already met twice in the Premier League so will not face in competitive action once the campaign gets underway again.
Boss David Moyes said: “If you consider this a preseason, then a few clubs would have had a few friendlies under their belts.
“If It is one thing the clubs are not going to get it’s game practice. So getting the opportunity to do that gives us the chance to do that.
“All these things are subject to the protocols. We have to have everything right. We can’t ask teams to travel, we are not intending to travel.
“We will abide by the guidelines. We don’t want anything to go wrong in the build-up to the start of the Premier League.”
The Irons have nine games to go and still have to play London rivals, Chelsea, at home and Tottenham away as part of the fixture list.
Friendly matches can be played at either the clubs’ stadiums or training grounds.
Premier League teams are now firmly into full contact training as the build-up begins under Project Restart.
Liverpool staged an 11-a-side match at Anfield this week and West Ham also put on a practice game at their vast 60,000-seater London Stadium last weekend.
This was to get the players used to play in an empty stadium as all remaining games this season will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus.
Moyes believes daily work life is finally starting to feel a little like it did pre-pandemic.
The Hammers boss said: “I think that now because on the pitch we’re back in contact it is very similar. Off the pitch, it is completely different.
“We’re not using the facilities, we’re outdoors we’re keeping social distances. We’re making it work. Most of us are finding it OK.
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“The hardest part was right at the start when we were training in ones or twos or fours. Now iti is starting to feel a bit more normal.
“Everybody is beginning to fit back into it and it’s going well.”