Manuel Pellegrini Demands More From Chicharito at West Ham

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini says he wants to see more of Javier Hernandez's positive qualities following the striker's sluggish start to the season.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini says he wants to see more of Javier Hernandez's positive qualities following the striker's sluggish start to the season.

Chicharito has struggled for game time at the London Stadium this season with Hammers fan favourite Marko Arnautovic leading the line in his place. 

Hernandez has spent a lot of this season on the bench and had been suffering with a virus, which kept him out of the side for over a month in September.

However, Chicharito is now back to full fitness and Pellegrini admitted he wants to see more from the Mexican ahead of a crucial run of fixtures.

Pellegrini said, as quoted by Football.London: "I always want more from every player, Javier has had for the moment a difficult season because it's always difficult to return from the World Cup.

"You don't have time to make a good preseason. After that he started playing one game, had a virus for a month or five weeks. He must start again. I think he's a good player and from now until the end of the season we'll see how he improves his performance."

Chicharito has endured a slow start this season following a delayed pre-season because of his World Cup commitments.

The Mexico international has featured just nine times in this Premier League season, not once completing a full 90 minutes, with only one goal to show for it.

Hernandez was tipped to return to a starting role with Pellegrini's arrival but he has failed to earn a starting place so far. His West Ham career has been slightly disappointing so far. 

Chicharito was signed with high expectations, but failed to impress David Moyes last season and spent a lot of time playing out of position, or not at all.