West Ham United midfielder Alex Kral has his career in East London hanging by a thread after being hooked at half time against Kidderminster Harriers.
The Hammers struggled against the non-league side and were 1-0 down right up until injury-time, when Declan Rice popped up with a leveller.
Jarrod Bowen won it at the death in extra time, with West Ham scraping through to the fifth round against non-league opposition.
This was not what David Moyes wanted, not by any stretch.
Being dragged to extra time will be seen as unnecessary minutes in the legs of West Ham players, as Moyes would have been expecting his side to coast past Kidderminster.
Moyes even had to bring on first-team players at half time, calling on Craig Dawson and Declan Rice to replace Issa Diop and Alex Kral.
Diop has been linked away often enough as it is, but Kral has really missed what could be his last big opportunity to convince Moyes.
Signed on loan from Spartak Moscow in August, there is an £11million purchase option in Kral’s West Ham deal.
Seen as ideal cover for Rice and compatriot Tomas Soucek, Kral has basically become a forgotten man at West Ham.
Kral has remarkably played just one minute of Premier League action this season, and that came in the 4-1 win at Watford in December.
Even in the Europa League, when Moyes may be tempted to rate, Kral has started just once and played 75 minutes in total.
Kral was handed a start against Kidderminster but was so poor that Moyes hooked him at half time in what could be a killer blow to his West Ham future.
If Moyes can’t trust Kral against Kidderminster, there is no chance of him being trusted in the Premier League.
West Ham’s recruitment of Czech players has been great with Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal, but Kral looks like being the exception with his substitution surely a sign that he is on his way this summer.
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