Ryan Frederick could become the unfortunate victim of cruel circumstances when West Ham United host Manchester City on Sunday, with boss David Moyes needing to make difficult decisions as he looks to introduce his summer signings to the squad.

West Ham welcomed Craig Dawson and Said Benrahma to the London Stadium late into the transfer market, with the defender arriving on loan from Watford and attacker from Brentford.

Neither were named in the Irons’ most recent Premier League squad against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, but are two names right at the top of Moyes’ list for potential inclusions at home to Pep Guardiola’s Sky Blues.

Moyes is expected to have a fully fit squad to choose from, with Michail Antonio’s early withdrawal in the 3-3 draw with Spurs only a precaution and that he does not have a serious problem, despite having an ice pack wrapped around his right leg after the game.

Sebastien Haller is also due to make his return after missing the Tottenham clash through a knock sustained in training, though will only feature from the bench with Moyes due to name an unchanged starting XI.

But by bringing Haller back to the bench and introducing Benrahma and Dawson to the 18-man squad, Moyes has difficult decisions to make over his remaining substitutes and Fredericks may be the odd one out.

Moyes will undoubtedly name goalkeeper Darren Randolph on the bench in case of an injury to starter Lukasz Fabianski, while Haller, Dawson and Benrahma’s inclusions leave just three spots up for grabs.

Manuel Lanzini would be a hard name to omit following his dramatic stoppage-time equaliser at Tottenham last week, while Andriy Yarmolenko offered a clever pass through to Vladimir Coufal before the right-back’s cross was turned home by Davinson Sanchez to make it 3-2.

If both feature, Fredericks’ chances of making it in the 18-man squad comes down to one spot which could be argued belongs to Issa Diop but can also be awarded to Mr West Ham Mark Noble or Robert Snodgrass in order to have greater options in the centre of the pitch.

Fredericks’ hopes of making it in the squad to face Manchester City, therefore, seem to hinge on whether or not Moyes favours two defenders on the bench and whether the Irons boss wants two central options or one who can play at full-back.

If the Scottish coach opts not to name Fredericks in his plans, then the former Fulham defender can count himself unlucky having offered West Ham more than most despite only earning three Premier League appearances which ended with a hamstring injury.

The blow occurred early in the second-half against Wolverhampton Wanderers but Fredericks returned to fitness over the international break to make the bench at Tottenham.

Over his time on the field in the top-flight, Fredericks was able to record a big chances created rate of 0.39 per 90 minutes, per SofaScore, which only left-back duo Arthur Masuaku (0.5) and Aaron Cresswell (0.4) can better among the Irons squad.

Fredericks also ranks first among the West Ham squad for key balls per 90 with an average 3.54 and offers the fourth-most accurate crosses (1.18), showing the offensive threat the £3.6m-rated ace can present and the reasons why his omission from the matchday squad would make the 28-year-old an unfortunate victim of the circumstances Moyes finds himself in.

AND in other news, West Ham frustrated a rival club with one of their summer deals and could spark greater anger by reviving efforts to sign a 6 ft 1 ace.