Tuesday 19 December 2017 23:28, UK
David Moyes says West Ham need to "add quality" after losing to Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
Having made six changes to their starting line-up, the Hammers were beaten 1-0 at the Emirates after failing to manage a shot on target.
The defeat is West Ham's first in four matches after wins over Chelsea and Stoke and a draw with Arsenal in the Premier League.
"We are making steady progress," Moyes told Sky Sports. "We need to add quality, you could see that tonight, but you wouldn't question our honesty and determination. We were organised and made it difficult for Arsenal.
"We gave away a really poor goal. It wasn't an Arsenal type goal and we should have defended it well. Up until the goal [Theo] Walcott had a chance with a header but I can't think of any chances before that or in the second half."
West Ham now turn their focus back to the league as they face Newcastle, Bournemouth and West Brom in their next three matches.
"As everybody is aware the league is a priority for every team, no matter where you are," said Moyes. "We would have liked to have got to the semi-final, it would have been good, but it wasn't to be.
"We had to start tonight with two 18-year-olds in midfield and against Arsenal that's always going to be difficult. We have players in other positions but at this moment we are short on midfield players."
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Moyes added: "I think we have been making progress and winning games and we've been well organised and hard to play against. We showed that again tonight.
"But what we're seeing as we go along is the next step is adding quality. Tonight we were short on midfield players and generally we're short in that area and we could do with adding a little more craft.
"It's an area we're short at the moment. But January is never the easiest month to deal with. It was great young Dom played well and Declan Rice got a good game, so we have to develop our own players too. But we just lacked a bit of quality tonight at different times."
