New West Ham boss Slaven Bilic will not be in charge of the team for their opening Europa League qualifier, with academy manager Terry Westley defending the decision.
Bilic replaced Sam Allardyce at Upton Park on June 9 but will only be in the stands for Thursday's clash with Andorran minnows FC Lusitans, despite a sell-out crowd packing the stadium.
The Hammers reached Europe through the Fair Play League and so enter the competition at the first qualifying round, just 40 days since their final fixture of last season at Newcastle.
Former Luton and Derby boss Westley has already named his team for the first leg, with first-team regulars James Tomkins, Morgan Amalfitano, Matt Jarvis and Diafra Sakho all starting.
And the 55-year-old explained why he was being entrusted to guide West Ham to a comfortable first-leg lead to defend in Andorra next week, rather than the game providing Bilic with an easy-looking start to life in the Upton Park dugout.
"You find you're in Europe so someone has to put a plan together," he said.
"We've had to be proactive to put a plan together very quickly as we didn't know whether we would be in Europe until after the last game.
"We knew what the group would consist of. It was to make a smooth transition for when the manager was put in place."