West Ham United manager David Moyes claims his primary focus is on the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie with Lyon on Thursday, and hopes his side can continue their 'special' run in the competition.
The Hammers are competing in the last eight for the first time in their history after beating Europa League veterans Sevilla 2-1 on aggregate in the last 16.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Moyes talked up Lyon's qualities and experience on the European stage and believes it is "really important" for his side to not lose the first leg at the London Stadium.
"I'm not thinking beyond Lyon at the moment. We take every competition really seriously. We treat them all with the same importance, but this one is a little bit more special because we've not been among the European teams for years," the Scotsman said on Wednesday afternoon.
"We're playing against a team who two years ago were in the Champions League semi-final so we'd be crazy to be thinking any further than this first leg. We have to realise this is a different set-up now because we're at home in the first leg of a quarter-final and the game might be slightly different.
"I think it's really important that you try not to lose the game. Coming back from Seville we knew there was a target to reach and we did it on the night.
"The difference is we're just about to kick off, so sometimes it takes to the second game before you get a better idea of each other. The first game will be one we want to try and play well and impose ourselves at home, but also be mindful there is another game to come after as well."
Moyes added: "We don't know (Lyon) as in we've not played against them to know them exactly, but we've watched them as individuals in the French league.
"We're really looking forward to it, a great occasion for us at West Ham, and we'll want to try and keep this run going if we can."
The 58-year-old has also provided a positive update regarding the fitness of Jarrod Bowen and Ben Johnson, and claims that he is 'not worried' about the former's condition even though he has only just returned from a four-week layoff with a heel injury. body check tags ::
