Moyes happy to give Arnautovic 'leg room'

April 16 (Reuters) - West Ham United are willing to give playmaker Marko Arnautovic the space he needs to flourish as long as the Austrian delivers for the team, manager David Moyes has said ahead of Monday's Premier League clash against Stoke City.

Arnautovic, 28, had a poor start to his West Ham career and failed to score in his first 11 league appearances but has found a rich vein of form and scored nine in his last 14 outings.

"Players like Marko need a little bit of leg room, maybe more than others, and I think we gave Marko his leg room but I want to make sure he knows he has got to do the job here," Moyes told West Ham's website http://www.whufc.com.

"I don't think he will (slack off) now, because he knows what got the crowd from booing him to cheering him every week and becoming one of their heroes."

West Ham, who have yet to win consecutive home league games this season, can climb to 12th in the table, nine points clear of the relegation zone, if they beat Stoke.