West Ham assistant Alan Irvine has confirmed boss David Moyes will make the decisions before and during Sunday’s game with Wolves despite being in self-isolation.
The Hammers manager and players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, with the results only available an hour before they hosted Hull in the Carabao Cup second round.
Moyes and the West Ham duo had to leave the London Stadium and will spend the next 10 days self-isolating.
While Diop and Cullen will have no impact at home to Wolves in the Premier League, the 57-year-old will do his best to influence proceedings against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.
West Ham United can confirm that David Moyes, Issa Diop and Josh Cullen have returned positive tests for COVID-19.— West Ham United (@WestHam) September 22, 2020
“David will be the manager and everything that we do will be run through him first of all,” Irvine said.
“He will make the decisions on everything that he would do if he was here. Nothing has changed as far as that is concerned but, like for this press conference, I am the messenger.”
Irvine revealed Moyes, Diop and Cullen were all fine and just disappointed to not be at the training ground or able to attend this weekend’s clash.
The 62-year-old said: “I have spoken to David several times this morning and he’s not feeling any symptoms. Obviously it is frustrating but, yes, he’s fine.
“Again, I spoke to both (Diop and Cullen) of them and they are fine. Frustrated because they are not able to come in but that’s the situation and we all understand that. Neither of them are feeling unwell.”
While the news prior to kick-off on Tuesday was a shock, West Ham were able to get the fixture against Hull on and will be in action again on Sunday.
Irvine believes everyone in the top flight feels safe, with players and staff still tested on a weekly basis which remains mandatory despite it not being the case in the English Football League.
He said: “The Premier League are doing everything they can, the clubs are doing everything they can as well and that puts everybody’s mind at rest.
“There is no doubt prior to restarting last season there were a lot of people who were very nervous about how things would go.
“I think the players and the staff feel everything that can be done is being done. We have seen what is happening outside of football, so I guess it was inevitable some of it would spread into football.
“We are in a very fortunate position in that we get tested regularly and we get well looked after so we are able to avoid circumstances maybe other people can’t avoid. We are still in a very fortunate position.”
Despite two emphatic victories in the Carabao Cup, West Ham are point-less after two league games.
A tepid display at home to Newcastle was followed up with a better showing against Arsenal, but it still resulted in defeats and increases the importance of the clash with Europa League quarter-finalists Wolves.
“It is another huge game,” Irvine admitted.
“We felt we certainly should have got something from the Arsenal game albeit we were disappointing with our performance against Newcastle.
“We need a good performance against what will be a very good team and we have to try and get some points on the board as soon as possible.”
The Hammers remain active in the transfer market, but co-owner David Sullivan admitted this week they have “limited funds”.
Irvine added: “Like any other club we were coming into this window thinking we need to get some players, there are not many who think they have got exactly what they want so we are looking at ways to improve.
“We would like to but you can only do that if the right players are available and at the right prices.
“If we end up being unable to find those players, I don’t think it would be wise to sign players who would make the squad more unbalanced.”
