West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice insists Grady Diangana's sale to West Brom did not impact their opening day defeat to Newcastle United.

West Ham players were furious when Diangana was sold to West Brom for £18million last week.

Captain Mark Noble tweeted that he was "gutted, angry and sad" and David Moyes said this week that the skipper showed “exactly what the players feel".

But after the Hammers lost 2-0 to Newcastle on the opening day of the new season, Rice said: “Grady went 10 days ago. He is a big miss for us. But none of that was in our minds, the dust has settled."

Speaking to Sky Sports, he added: “I do not think we could have played any worse to be honest. We were poor as a team and individually. There is no time to play poor in the Premier League."