West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has denied that the passing of club legend Billy Bonds affected his side's performance in defeat to Liverpool on Sunday but did admit that it had an influence on the "general mood" inside the London Stadium.
Bonds -- one of West Ham's greatest ever players and record appearance-maker -- died at the age of 79 on Sunday with several tributes dedicated to him taking place prior to kickoff against Liverpool.
West Ham eventually fell to a 2-0 defeat with goals from Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo late on giving Liverpool a much-needed win.
The tragic news led to a subdued atmosphere inside the London Stadium, particularly in the first-half but Nuno doesn't believe that it had any direct impact on his players' performance.
"Yeah I think all of us felt [it], and were impacted by the bad news that we had," Nuno told a post-match news conference.
"Billy Bonds [is] someone that means a lot for us as a club, a player with almost 800 appearances, someone that means so much for our fans.
"I don't believe it affected the team but it affected the general mood that we felt.
"We wanted to do another thing [the performance] that can honour the memory of Billy Bonds in a better way but unfortunately it was not to be."
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During the game midfielder Lucas Paquetá was sent off in bizarre fashion after two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent.
The incident occurred while West Ham were still in the game at 1-0 down but Nuno refused to be drawn on whether or not it costed his side.
"It's hard to play against a team like Liverpool with one man less, I will not go much further ... I want to speak with him [Paquetá] first, have a private conversation and try to understand," Nuno said.
"I think its unfair to comment without a chance to speak with him."