David Moyes calls his side’s defending ‘ROTTEN to the core’ in their defeat at Nottingham Forest

David Moyes branded his toiling side’s defending ‘rotten’ after West Ham made it two defeats out of two in the new Premier League season at Nottingham Forest.

Taiwo Awoniyi took advantage of the visitors’ penalty area generosity to score the only goal of the game in first-half stoppage time, leaving Moyes to rue a display at the back that he likened to incompetent film police officers the Keystone Cops.

Unimpressed Moyes told Sky Sports: ‘It was rotten — rotten to the core. Really, really poor defending generally, all over.

David Moyes was frustrated by poor West Ham defending as they lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest

Forest earned their first points of the campaign to leave the Hammers still on a quest for theirs

‘Keystones Cops, with it. It was poor defending all round. We’re going to have to play better, defend better and score better. There’s a bit to do yet.’

New £28m signing Nayef Aguerd was among West Ham’s absentees as the Morocco centre-back recovers from surgery on an ankle injury sustained in a pre-season friendly against Rangers.

Moyes says his starting players are not strong enough after watching his side start the season without a goal or point following their 2-0 home defeat on the opening day against Manchester City.

‘We hope we can add to it; we hope we can get stronger,’ Moyes said of his squad and transfer plans.

Unimpressed Moyes said he hopes to add players to his starting options after a second defeat

‘I thought I had a couple of good players to come on. We had one or two on the bench but we didn’t have enough on the pitch. We need to get more who are going to start.’

Declan Rice spurned the chance to equalise when he missed a 65th-minute spot kick after an attack Moyes hoped West Ham would score from.

‘We got a penalty from it,’ Moyes said when he was asked whether Scott McKenna’s punishment for a suspected handball was justified. ‘You’d better ask the people who know and they’ll tell you.’

West Ham host Brighton and Tottenham, visit Aston Villa and face a two-legged Europa Conference League play-off against Danish side Viborg before the transfer window closes on September 1.