United are due to fly to Donetsk for a Champions League encounter with Shakhtar that has taken on additional significance following Saturday's Barclays Premier League defeat by West Brom.
The loss was the club's third in six games this season.
It represents their worst start to a league campaign since 1989 and has seen them slide into the bottom half of the table and pushed out to fourth favourites to retain their crown, with the bookmakers believing United will be battling Tottenham for the final Champions League place.
This is not quite the transition envisaged in the summer, when Moyes walked into a club fresh from romping to a record 20th league championship by an impressive 11 points.
Yet the majority of Red Devils supporters accepted it was a rather flattering outcome, and the squad Moyes inherited from Sir Alex Ferguson had clear deficiencies.
These certainly go well beyond the scope of Marouane Fellaini, Moyes' only significant signing of a desperate transfer window.
Yet, despite the intense glare of scrutiny on United from the outside, inside the club there is a sense of calm.
Press Association Sport understands work is continuing to identify suitable targets and the Glazer family, having handed Moyes a six-year contract as Ferguson's successor, are determined to provide the Scot with the required financial muscle to strengthen his squad as he sees fit.
There is an acknowledgement at United that a difficult adjustment was not helped by the decision not to buy Moyes out of the final six weeks of his contract at Everton once it had been confirmed he would replace Ferguson.
Source: PA
Source: PA