West Ham boss understands why goalkeeper wants to leave

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has conceded he understands why reserve goalkeeper Adrian might be looking to leave in January.

Adrian spent the first three years of his West Ham career as their No.1 goalkeeper but lost his place between the sticks to Darren Randolph midway through last season.

The arrival of Joe Hart over the summer has only limited Adrian’s first-team opportunities further, but Bilic insists Adrian is still acting like a professional despite a desire to play more.

“I can understand players want to play and that’s why they are sportsmen at the top level,” Sky Sports quote Bilic as saying on Thursday. “But we also need a good squad and good keepers.

“I can understand it but, on the other hand, Adrian is a great professional and he is acting and behaving as I would expect.

‘He is working hard in training to get his chance and is getting his chance in the cup only, but that can change, of course.”

“We have a squad and they all want to play, and you can’t expect the players who aren’t playing to be happy. For the sake of the team, we need their professionalism and competition, and Adrian is acting like that.”

The 30-year-old has been limited to two appearances in the League Cup this season and West Ham have won both games at an aggregate scoreline of 5-0.

In fact, the Hammers have only kept five clean sheets in all competitions this season and Adrian has been in goal for two of them.