Irvine: "David will be the manager. Everything we do will be run through him first of all and he will make the decisions on everything"
Friday 25 September 2020 16:22, UK
West Ham assistant Alan Irvine has confirmed David Moyes will still manage Sunday's game against Wolves, but from his home due to him self-isolating.
The Hammers boss, and players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, had to leave the London Stadium on Tuesday after they received positive tests for Covid-19 and will isolate for the next 10 days.
Irvine took charge of the Carabao Cup tie against Hull and secured a 5-1 win, but Moyes will be the man making all the decisions remotely this weekend.
"David will be the manager. Everything we do will be run through him first of all and he will make the decisions on everything," Irvine said.
"He would make the decisions anyway but, like for this press conference, I am the messenger."
Irvine confirmed Moyes, Diop and Cullen remained asymptomatic and were all coping well.
"He is fine, I have spoken to him several times this morning and he is not feeling any symptoms. Obviously a bit frustrating for him but he is getting on with other things," the 62-year-old said of the West Ham manager.
"They (Diop and Cullen) are both fine. Frustrated because they can't come in, but that is the situation and they understand that. None of them are feeling anything which maybe makes it more frustrating."
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 pointless 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," said Irvine. "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."
