Kalvin Phillips: West Ham boss David Moyes says midfielder needs 'support' after fan incident

Kalvin Phillips has yet to score in nine appearances for West Ham in all competitions

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."

'I feel so sorry for Phillips' - fan view

Read more from West Ham fan writer James Jones at BBC Sport's dedicated page

It was yet another unfortunate incident for Phillips, who has not been able to use his loan spell to regain the confidence lost since signing for Manchester City. He had spoken publicly about his struggles since moving away from Leeds, so it seemed like a move away from Etihad Stadium was exactly what he needed to get his mojo back.

But it's just not happened for him.

A video of Phillips making an offensive hand gesture to West Ham fans after Saturday's game is a sad insight into how he feels about things, too. It must be so difficult for him after making a move that he will have hoped would revive his career.

I feel so sorry for him. We all know how good he can be on his day, we've all seen it from his time at Leeds and with England. But perhaps this was the wrong move him, with so much expectation and pressure that comes with playing for a club fighting for a top-seven finish.

His performances in claret and blue haven't been good enough, granted, but the abuse sent his way is, in my opinion, unfair.

The best thing for him is for David Moyes to remove him from the spotlight, give him the help he needs behind the scenes and for fans to get off his back.