David Moyes has said that the result was better than the performance after West Ham escaped with a 1-1 draw away at Belgian side Gent in the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final.
Moyes insisted the Hammers had not taken their unheralded opponents lightly despite making six changes to his starting line-up with one eye on the Premier League relegation battle and a visit from leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
“Overall it was a really tough game, very physical, Gent were very strong and made it very difficult for us,” he said.
“I don’t think we were underestimating them. I think when you get to this stage of the competition, into the final eight, there are not many bad teams wherever you go.
“I think you will find everyone has worked really hard to be here and they don’t want to give up a chance to make a semi-final. We knew that would be the case. We knew it would be tough and it proved to be.
“I didn’t think the performance was good but the result was not a bad result. In cup competitions we know what can happen. We’re away from home, facing a strong crowd, and Gent played very well tonight.”
We didn’t create enough tonight, we didn’t build well enough and made it difficult for ourselves. We were more liable to score a second on the counter, but it didn’t materialise.
“Hopefully we can show them a bit more about how we play when we see them next Thursday.”