England midfielder Kalvin Phillips needs “support and people to help him”, says West Ham manager David Moyes.
The 28-year-old was allegedly caught making an offensive gesture to fans while getting on the team bus after Saturday’s loss at Newcastle United.
Phillips is on loan to West Ham from Manchester City until the end of the season. “We need our fans to give all our players the support they require,” said Moyes.
“Kalvin’s a human being and what he needs is support and people to help him, which is what we’ll do.”
Phillips has made seven appearances in the Premier League for the East London side, starting just three times.
He came off the bench at Newcastle with the Hammers 3-1 up and saw a penalty awarded against him within 10 minutes of being on the field before Eddie Howe’s side snatched a 4-3 success.
“Kalvin’s a really good player and I do believe we can still make something out of the time we’ve got with him here,” said Moyes.
Phillips joined West Ham aiming to regain a place in the England squad, however, Gareth Southgate left him out of the recent international friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.
Southgate said: “At the moment, I couldn’t be confident on the performances Kalvin’s had in the last few weeks that he could go into the field and do the job we know that he’s capable of. “That’s perhaps the lowest it can get for him in terms of the last few months.”
Meanwhile, the standard of refereeing in the Premier League this season "hasn't been good enough", says Burnley manager Vincent Kompany.
Kompany was shown a red card by referee Darren England during the 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Saturday for protesting against a penalty decision which led to defender Lorenz Assignon being sent off.
Six Burnley players have been sent off in 30 games this season, the most of any Premier League team.
Kompany said he is "not shying away" from giving feedback to officials and does not have "any issues with being fined".
He said: "I've said it to the referees themselves - refereeing hasn't been good enough this season.
"And I have said that in a constructive way, understanding as well the fact it's not easy for them.
"The scrutiny is massive. The pressure is bigger than it's ever been on the officials.
"The addition of VAR and more opinions and more officials doesn't make it easy for them to do their jobs."
Burnley are second bottom of the table, four points from safety.
