Graham Potter admitted he was thrilled with the response from the West Ham fans last night.

The claret & blue army were in full voice and support of the new Head Coach and the team for the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, a result that feels somewhat harsh.

West Ham were the better side for the majority of the game, however a poor decision from the referee and injuries appeared to be the catalyst for the defeat.

“We were organised defensively, showed a great attitude, togetherness on the pitch, good communication, good understanding of what we’re trying to do, carried a threat and were probably a little bit unlucky not to get a second goal,” Potter told whufc.com.

“Aston Villa certainly didn’t carry any threat in the first half. Obviously losing Niclas was a blow, and then Cree as well at half-time, probably affected our attacking intent.

“We were a little bit unlucky I think, with the manner of their first goal in terms of it didn’t look like it was a corner and it’s one of those things. But after going behind, we still pushed and you could see the personality of the players, and you could see what they were trying to do and we had a couple of chances at the end.”

Potter was full of praise and was clearly impacted by the outstanding away support, who were in full voice throughout despite the loss.

“We had a great number here and they were loud and I think they were enjoying the first half and enjoying what we were trying to do. I think they could see the chances we were creating and the threat that we carried, and the overall effort. I think we just ran out of steam a little bit in the second half, but overall their support was brilliant.

“So I’m really, really happy with that. It’s the first day essentially for us, it’s a training session and a meeting or two, so we need to keep moving, but we’ve got games coming up so there’s not that much time to prepare between them.”