David Moyes gave his virtual press conference from Rush Green at 1.30 pm this afternoon ahead of the London Stadium game against Manchester United and this is what he had to say:   Team news – Michail Antonio and how are things with Andriy Yarmolenko?

Mick is not going to be available for the game. We are not sure how long he will be out for, we hope it’s not too bad but he won’t be available for tomorrow’s game.

Andriy is recovering, he has trained the last few days now. You’re never sure how quickly they will recover [from the virus], but the good news he’s back, he’s fit and healthy and has been training the last few days.”

What’s the issue with Antonio?

He just has a bit of a problem with his hamstring. It’s not the same injury, we think it is something slightly different so that’s good news, we are hoping he will not be out for too long.

Everyone else OK?

Yes. In the main we have a fully fit squad, Ryan Fredericks has had a bit of a problem with groin but apart from that, everyone else is close to full fitness.

Fans back at London Stadium, what difference will it make?

The biggest thing I would like to say is that we have been waiting on them to come back for nine months like every club.

We have been so pleased with the results, staying up last year when we had those games when we knew we would miss them [the fans] and obviously we have had a good start to this season.

Overall, it’s a start. We have got a great stadium and hopefully it won’t be long before we can fill it up with them all.

What has your winning run done in terms of confidence? Perhaps seeing something new in this group?

We can’t guarantee any results but what we do want to do is try and get better, progress and improve and the players are doing that.

Even after the first lockdown when he had nine games in six weeks, we did a really good job to make sure we were a Premier League team but I think it is really important that we have kicked on again from then.

We want to stay up near the top of the league, enjoy it as it is a much better feeling than being down near the bottom. I am going to do everything I can to keep us around the top end.

Clear up your contract talks – yes or no?

We have not had any contract talks at the moment but all I can say is that when I came back in I wanted to do a good enough job to show that I was worthy of a contract, I wanted to prove that. I am in no hurry to do anything because we are going along nicely, I don’t want there to be anything to detract that.

Again, all the players at the club have to prove themselves every week and if we decide to leave contracts a bit longer then it shouldn’t have any effect on them either.

Has the fans coming back given the players a spring in their step?

I have to say it has been really strange not having fans but I don’t know if it will be even stranger having only 2000 back in a 60,000 seater stadium.So I can’t say exactly.

It is not something that we have discussed openly. We just want supporters back. It is a start and the club has done a really good job in making sure that everything is safe and prepared, as have other clubs because we are fully aware of our responsibilities.

Overall, it is great.I am sure there will be some people disappointed they haven’t got a ticket just now but there will be others who are really excited to come back to a game.

Second best points return at this stage of any Premier League season for West Ham, what are the main factors behind that?

I take satisfaction that we are in a good league position but I have been here as a manager many, many times. Sometimes I haven;t started a season well, other times I have, but it doesn’t always pan out how you want it.

I think for West Ham to get off to a good start when probably you [media] and lots of others thought we wouldn’t, says a lot. It shows we have got a group of players who are keen to impress, keen to improve.

I want to get back to the values of the club which is being one of the biggest in the country but we have a lot to do before we can get there.

Surely the target this season is not to just stay in the Premier League?

It’s difficult because I can’t come and say “yeah let’s get to 40 points’ without sounding negative. Ideally, we go as far as we go and get everything we can but ultimately it took us up to the last game of the season last time to even get up to 40 points and we stayed up.

Let’s see if we can get 40, 50 or more but ultimately we are not setting any targets. What I do know is I want to see the team playing well, focus to be good, results to be better and to stay on the shirttails of the big boys if I can.

Contract situation – have you answered your critics?

I don’t think I had to answer any critics but as a football manager, you always have to prove yourself because you are judged game by game.

The biggest proof I can give is I’ve had nearly 1000 games as a manager which gives you an idea, for people to keep giving you a job and the level of longevity, I actually don’t know if there are any managers from when I started in the Premier League who are still there now. So to get that amount of games means you’re doing something right.

But you always have to prove yourself as a manager, you always have to keep winning, and things can change very quickly. I’m really enjoying this period, I’m enjoying West Ham, I enjoyed it last time.

I thought we were a bit unlucky not to keep the job last time, but the biggest compliment I can give the owners is they recognised the job we did the first time was good enough to get it again.

Are the fans going to see a different West Ham team when they return this weekend?

I hope they’ll recognise a more energetic team, more committed. We are also trying to find a way to play players in their best positions, give them the best opportunity to perform. We’ve got competition, people, ready to play and looking to play.

I want the supporters to feel a real level of positivity, the team are showing it in training, the atmosphere in the dressing room is terrific, and we’ve got a real band of young players, Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Pablo Fornals, some of them are really just growing as we go along. We want to keep improving.

But we’ve got a group now showing another side to their game which is making sure when things aren’t quite so good we can still get points out of it.

Sympathy for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the criticism he is getting?

The biggest compliment I give Ole is he is managing the biggest club in the world. That in itself tells you there are people who think he’s doing a great job. I have to say when you are at these clubs what is important is that you win. I didn’t win enough games in my time. There were different circumstances, it was a bit of a transitional time.

Ole understands better than me, he’s been a player there and manager there, I think at the big clubs sometimes it can be difficult, you’re under pressure, the media is always looking at you, judging your performance. But Ole wouldn’t want me to feel sorry for him, not at all. And he knows I’m going to do everything I can to beat him on Saturday.

Four points off the top but also four points ahead of 15th – table is very tight?

It’s really tight and that’s why I am not getting carried away. A lot of the teams we have played away already so we have been aware of the teams around the top.

We have got a decent points total, I want to push on and I am not resting on my laurels.

Getting a tune out of the players regularly?

I think that in games we have had, this period, we have been consistent. Yes there have dips but most teams will do that. I hope the consistency improves for the next period and to keep a level of it where we think we will be, where we can build on it and at the moment that is what we are trying to do.

I am trying to get the players to understand there is a level of performance required and hopefully, when we don;t play as well, we have resilience to get us points.

Obviously a blow with Antonio but now a chance for Haller to step up again

“Micky, we believed, was 100 per cent fit and ready to go and he showed it in his training. So we had no reason to not want a fully fit Micky Antonio with us.

A fully fit Micky in his form gives us a different dimension. But Seb [Haller] was beginning to run into form and you could see that he was getting confidence from his games. So we are looking to him now and hoping he can get the goals he has had at his previous clubs in previous seasons.

Press conference transcript credit to Sam Inkensole/Football.London