The Hammers made it back-to-back victories in the UEFA Conference League group stages as they survived a shock setback in Silkeborg before recovering to beat the Danes 3-1..

Kasper Kusk gave the hosts a surprise fifth-minute lead before Manuel Lanzini levelled from the penalty spot, ahead of Gianluca Scamacca and Craig Dawson then giving David Moyes' men a healthy interval advantage.

And although Søren Tengastedt set up a lively final quarter of an hour, West Ham held firm to top Group B ahead of next month’s double-header against Anderlecht.

With last weekend’s Premier League programme having been paused as a mark of respect following the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Hammers found themselves in European action for the second match running.

And having kicked off their group campaign with a 3-1 victory over FCSB last Thursday, Moyes made a trio of changes to the side that had beaten the Romanians as Lucas Paquetá returned alongside Dawson - coming in for his first start of the season – and Aaron Cresswell made his 300th appearance in claret and blue.

That saw Saïd Benrahma, Angelo Ogbonna and Flynn Downes named on the bench but as that slightly reshuffled Hammers line-up looked to adapt to both an artificial pitch and the driving Danish rain, they got off to worse possible start.

Silkeborg may have lost their opening group match (1-0) at Anderlecht seven days ago but they had at least returned from Belgium and promptly beaten local rivals Aarhus on Sunday to go fourth in the Danish Superliga and buoyed by that victory they certainly took the Premier League visitors by surprise.

Indeed, only five minutes were on the clock, when the hosts launched a lively raid down the left flank and when the ball arrived at the feet of Kusk he drilled a low, angled 15-yarder inside the base of Alphonse Areola’s near post to give the hosts the lead.

The Hammers had overcome Viborg FF in in the play-off round and, returning to Denmark just three weeks on, they now found themselves a mere 25 miles up the road but with a steep, uphill climb.

In reply, Emerson Palmieri headed weakly into keeper Nicolai Larsen’s clutches before Lukas Engel then came within inches of doubling the Silkeborg advantage with another low angled shot that fizzed across the face of goal and beyond Areola’s far post.

But on 11 minutes, the Hammers were given a route back into this contest, when Maxwel Cornet was bundled over by Tobias Salquist, who was booked, and although Larsen correctly dived to his right, he was given no chance with Lanzini’s powerful penalty.

Midway through the half, the dangerous Kusk saw his 18-yarder deflected wide but despite that scare, having levelled, West Ham were gaining confidence on the unfamiliar surface and, indeed, on 25 minutes they took the lead with a Scamacca scorcher.

Collecting from Cornet some 20 yards out, the seven-cap Italian striker showed exactly why Moyes paid £30million-plus for him during the summer, when he belied his six-foot, five-inch frame to cleverly spin and launch a simply unstoppable shot past the flailing Larsen to claim his third European goal since his arrival from Sassuolo.

Shortly afterwards Nicklas Helenius thought that he had levelled when he nodded home Kusk’s corner into the danger-zone but Portuguese referee Fabio Verissimo disallowed the Silkeborg skipper’s header for a foul on Areola to mass Danish protests on and off the pitch.

But seven minutes before the break there was absolutely nothing wrong with Dawson’s header when he climbed highest to meet Cresswell’s inswinging corner after Emerson had seen his awkward 18-yarder parried behind by Larsen.

After their shaky opening, the Hammers – having scored three goals in every European tie this season - went in with a commanding interval lead, while referee Verissimo departed to a chorus of home boos and there was little for either the home fans or the vociferous travelling support in the crowd of 6,702 to cheer during the early stages of the second period, either.

Indeed, following an uneventful opening 15 minutes both managers made triple substitutions in a bid to liven up proceedings as Tomáš Souček, Jarrod Bowen and Benrahma stepped from the bench to replace Scamacca, Paquetá and skipper Declan Rice.

In the opposite dug-out former Aston Villa centre-back Kent Nielsen had introduced Mads Kaalund, Tonni Adamsen and Sebastian Jørgensen in a bid to reduce the two-goal deficit and with a quarter of an hour remaining his side did just that.

When Cresswell’s corner was cleared, the Hammers found themselves desperately short at the back as Adamsen broke forward and although the helplessly-exposed Areola brilliantly parried the sprinting substitute’s shot, the French keeper was then powerless to prevent the supporting Tengstedt from snapping up the rebound.

Shortly afterwards, Adamsen skated across the plastic pitch once more and but for Areola’s athletic, agile stop he would have equalised, but West Ham survived and, with those two wins from two matches, they go into those back-to-back matches against Anderlecht healthily topping Group B with maximum points.

West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Dawson, Kehrer, Cresswell, Emerson, Lanzini (Coventry 90+3), Rice (Souček 62), Paquetá (Benrahma 62), Cornet (Fornals 85), Scamacca (Bowen 62). Unused subs: Fabiański, Randolph, Zouma, Antonio, Downes, Ogbonna.