West Ham boss David Moyes admits Declan Rice will be key for their late season Euro push.

The Hammers have conceded 11 goals in their last five matches with back-to-back defeats by Newcastle and Chelsea denting their bid to reach the Champions League.

Midfielder Rice has missed the last four games after suffering a knee injury on England duty last month, but he is pushing to be fit to face Burnley on Monday.

When pressed on why West Ham's previously excellent defensive record has been blemished of late, Moyes had a simple answer.

“Mostly it is not having Declan Rice," said the Hammers boss.

“Is he that important? I think so, yeah. He played in the game where we drew 3-3 against Arsenal so you could take that away, but he is incredibly important.

“We've had him back training a little bit. We're not sure exactly what level he's at but we've got a few days before the game on Monday.

“He's made good progress, we're happy and I would say he's ahead of schedule. So we'll try to keep pushing him on if we can."