David Moyes was pleased with the outcome of the Europa Conference League draw on Friday and admitted he is looking forward to the competition’s group stage.
West Ham were drawn in Group B along with FCSB based in Bucharest, Anderlecht and Danish club Silkeborg.
The Hammers qualified for the group stage after winning their two-legged tournament play-off qualifier against Viborg 6-1 on aggregate, with the second leg having taken place on Thursday.
#UECL Group B is confirmed!— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 26, 2022
“I’ve just seen it. Aye, (it looks) good, I’m looking forward to it,” Moyes said.
“We stayed in Silkeborg the day before. We know the level of the games we’ll get in Denmark, it was tough the one we had and we know going to Bucharest is not easy either, I’ve been there before. Never easy, but it’s great to be in it, isn’t it, exciting times.
“In the main, the distances are not too far so it’s important the supporters can get to the games relatively easy and hopefully relatively cheaply as well.”
For the Hammers boss, the two matches against the Danish club allowed some of his seven new summer signings to start integrating themselves into the team, especially Gianluca Scamacca.
“I think it gave the new boys a chance to get playing with us and for us to see a bit more about them,” Moyes said.
“Look, if you weren’t in it, you’d have had a league cup tie, like we saw most of the Premier League teams have and all the teams will be using the players who’ve not started yet, a lot of the new players will be getting minutes.
“So, the play-off for us was really important, we wanted to get through and we want to be in the group stages so we couldn’t take much chances.
“We went strong enough in the games and thankfully the players got us a positive result last night which got us through.”
Scamacca joined the club this transfer window from Sassuolo and scored his second goal in two games against Viborg, but has yet to start a Premier League game for the club, although Moyes believes he is nearing a top-flight start.
Clinical from Gianluca Scamacca. 👏 pic.twitter.com/ePTsuWFPDO— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 25, 2022
“He’s been knocking on the door for a while,” the manager said.
“It’s not just his fitness to get him ready, it’s getting him ready for Premier League football. It’s a big chance.
“We have to try and look at him and see where we think the right games are to play him in at the moment, when the right opportunity comes around.
“Certainly, we feel as if we’ve got someone we’re looking forward to working with for a long time, so we don’t need to rush him. But is he getting ready? Yes, he’s getting much closer to fitness now.”
