Declan Rice will start West Ham's Europa League game against Sevilla tonight, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

David Moyes would have been sweating over the fitness of the midfielder after his recent absence, but he did train at Rush Green ahead of the last 16 tie at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

What happened to Rice?

Rice had missed just one Premier League game all season and that was due to suspension, with the only other games he's missed in Europe and the Carabao Cup coming because Moyes decided to rest him.

So, when he wasn't included in the travelling party for the defeat at Liverpool on Saturday due to illness, there would have been major concerns at the London Stadium, especially with the trip to Sevilla just five days away.

Therefore, Rice emerged as an early doubt for the game against the Europa League specialists, although Moyes remained hopeful after the game at Anfield that he would be available to face the Spanish side.

But West Ham put their entire fanbase at ease on Wednesday morning when they released footage of the team training at their Chadwell Heath base, with Rice pictured along with the rest of his teammates.

And Jones confirmed that with Rice now back in the fold, he'll start West Ham's first ever knockout game in the competition.

What did Jones say about Rice?

When asked about Rice's availability, he told GIVEMESPORT: "I'm told he will start the game."

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How big of a boost is this for West Ham?

With Jarrod Bowen, arguably their player of the season, already out with an injury sustained at Liverpool, having Rice in the starting XI is crucial to their chances of getting a positive result.

Even with Rice available, it's still going to be a tall order for West Ham, who are rookies at this stage of a European competition and are up against a Sevilla side that have won this trophy no less than six times, including two years ago when they beat Inter Milan.

But starting the game with Rice will give the entire team a huge boost and give them genuine hope of coming away with a positive result to take back to London ahead of the second leg next week.