Why David Moyes is banned for West Ham's Europa Conference League play-off

But the Hammers will be without David Moyes, Declan Rice and Aaron Cresswell due to UEFA bans.

Now, you wouldn't think it will impact the Hammers too much, considering their opponents are without two of their best players.

But why is Moyes banned and could he try to replicate an infamous Jose Mourinho incident?

Why is Moyes banned for this game?

Moyes is suspended after kicking a ball at a ball boy in West Ham's Europa League semi-final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last season.

He was sent off and will serve a one-match UEFA ban.

Rice also received a retrospective suspension after he was caught on video claiming Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano had been paid off.

UEFA believed this to be worth a two-game ban, so Rice will miss both legs.

What did Jose Mourinho do?

Back in 2005, Chelsea played Barcelona in the Champions League and lost 2-1 despite leading.

After the game, 'The Special One' claimed that he had seen Frank Rijkaard enter Anders Frisk's room at half time and influence the referee.

It was later revealed that incident never happened, but Frisk had to retire after receiving death threats.

UEFA handed Mourinho a two-match ban, which started at Stamford Bridge against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

The plan was that Mourinho would watch the game from a nearby leisure centre and have no contact with his coaches.

However, the Blues gaffer managed to hide in a laundry basket and was wheeled into the dressing room before the game and at half time.

Mourinho discussed the incident in 2019: "I go to the dressing room during the day so I was there from midday and the game is seven o'clock. I just want to be in the dressing room when the players arrive.

"I went there and nobody saw me. The problem was to leave after. And Stewart Bannister the kit man put me in the basket. It was a little bit open so I could breathe.

"But when he is taking it outside the dressing room, the UEFA guys were following and desperate to find me so he closed the box and I couldn't breathe! When he opened the box I was dying! I am serious! I was claustrophobic, I promise! It's true!"

David Moyes ban: What has been said?

West Ham assistant manager Billy McKinlay has joked that Moyes could copy Mourinho.

When asked if Moyes could communicate with the team, he told the press: "I don't think so, unless we get the wheelie bins out."

He then provided some context to what happened in Germany: "It was a very, very emotional night.

"We are human. We can make allowances for that a bit.

"We've lost our captain, our vice-captain and our manager. But the manager will still be preparing the team this week and have a big influence.

"It's up to us to deal with that loss but it was such a big game for everybody that circumstances, things happen, just have to deal with it.

"The manager is a big presence about the place so we will have to deal with that.

"The instructions will be the same, we know how he works, we know what he wants, we know what messages to relay to the players so hopefully, it won't have too big an impact."