Moyes: Noble left a big void; Rice has to step up

The post-Mark Noble era is beginning at West Ham but David Moyes keenly feels his absence.

"There is a big void," the West Ham manager tells Sky Sports as he takes a break from the team's pre-season preparations at the club's east London training base.

"I can feel it now because he played such a big part, pulling the players together, doing lots of things and keeping them close. He was really important for us."

After 18 seasons as a pro at his boyhood club, Noble brought his playing career to an end last season. The captain signed off his final game at the London Stadium with a substitute appearance and an emotional speech in front of the West Ham fans after a 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

City, as it happens, are West Ham's first opponents at home this coming season but the hosts will this time be led both on and off the pitch by 23-year-old Declan Rice.

Mentored by Noble, Rice is the natural successor. He wore the armband for much of last season when Noble, 35, was out of the side but he will now lead this team in his own right.

"I know I'm going to be captain of West Ham for this season and it's an honour," Rice told Sky Sports earlier in the day. "To take it from Nobes is special. It's a dream. To be captain of any club in the world is an honour and to captain West Ham with the history behind the club is special."

But it carries big responsibility too.

"Now Dec has to step up to another level of not just how he plays on the pitch but his leadership off the pitch and dealing with a lot of the other things that go on," says Moyes.

"He's a young man who is still learning and maybe it was a little bit easier for him being captain last season knowing Mark Noble was in the building and those two could work it out.

"But