Mark Noble has been struggling this season.

The West Ham United midfielder has made just three starts in the Premier League this season and is primarily utilised as a substitute by David Moyes.

He has made a total of five substitute appearances and all three of his starts have resulted in the Irons dropping points: losses to both Newcastle United and Chelsea and a draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Moyes, after all, has happened upon perhaps the best midfield duo of his time in east London with Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.

The pair have been the undisputed first-choice duo under the former Everton boss, and Noble has found it difficult to muscle his way in.

And the club may need to start phasing Noble out on a more permanent basis, according to ex-Tottenham Hotspur man Alan Hutton.

p1eqqrnu9a1mkeod0121e1kt9p5cb.jpg

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “The guy’s a club legend. There’s no taking that away. He’s played for many years, won loads of games.

“But the two that are in there, Soucek and Rice, he’s not gonna play much in front of them.

“He has had his minutes this season, and he’s been taken off as well.

“Maybe it should be a case of new boys coming through now and him taking a backseat.

p1eqqrohbpduv1e9514fr12v094hd.jpg

“I think David Moyes has found a formation that suits West Ham, with five in defence with the two midfielders sitting in and the wing-backs flying forward. And those two are a solid base, Soucek is the one that gets forward and Rice mops up everything in his own half. So Noble’s found it very difficult to get in there.

“It comes to us all. We get older, it’s difficult to get around the pitch the way these young guys can.

“I know he’s the club captain but maybe it’s just a transition period with new blood coming in.”

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

Yep.

Noble is 33 and will be 34 next year.

He doesn’t have all that much pace, he isn’t particularly good at defending, and he hasn’t scored since January.

p1eqqrq966dpcl82pb6bkpt75g.jpg

With Rice and Soucek, West Ham have potentially one of the best midfields outside of the top six.

Noble, unfortunately, just doesn’t fit into this new-look Irons team.