Exclusive: Avram will be excused crucial Stoke game to observe Jewish holiday - even if Hammers are bottom

Avram Grant will be given permission to miss West Ham's game at Stoke to observe Yom Kippur - even if they are rock-bottom.

Hammers boss Grant, whose revamped side have yet to break their duck in the Premier League this season, is unlikely to travel to the Potteries on September 18 because it clashes with the Day of Atonement, the holiest date on the Jewish calendar.

Co-chairman David Gold, who also has Jewish ancestry, will not stand in the way of his Israeli manager skipping the dugout at the Britannia stadium, saying: "It is difficult to stand in the way of religious conviction."

But after starting with three straight defeats against Aston Villa, Bolton and Manchester United, the Hammers - who play Double winners Chelsea at Upton Park tomorrow - are in danger of going to Stoke without a point on the board.

Some fans are alarmed that Grant will be missing at a time when West Ham could be rock-bottom, but Gold said: "Religion is a very personal thing and, much as I would like Avram to be at every game, I would respect his decision.

"It's like a player who wants to miss a game to be at the birth of his child - no matter how much his team-mates might need him on the pitch, it's hard to stand in his way of something which is so important in his personal life.

"It varies, from individual to individual, how important religion is to you and it's a question of degrees. If my grandparents were still alive, they would not have gone to a match on Yom Kippur.

"Personally, I believe it is possible to fulfil both your religious obligations and your work obligations, but it's not so easy to do both if you are absolutely devout.

"I don't know Avram well enough yet to say whether he must be at the game, but you can't make a judgement like this on behalf of someone else."

This is not the first time Grant has been faced with a religious dilemma. Preparations for his first game in charge of Chelsea three years ago were also interrupted by the Day of Atonement - he was in the dugout for the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United, but only after observing a 24-hour fast.

And high-profile sportsmen who ignore it risk invoking the wrath of hard-line Jewish fundamentalists. Israeli international goalkeeper Dudu Aouate faced calls for his expulsion from the national side when he said he would play for his club, Deportivo La Coruna, against Real Sociedad on Yom Kippur.