West Ham starlet Oliver Scarles says he is “grateful” for the faith Graham Potter has shown.

Despite him speaking a lot about youth when he was first appointed, the lack of integration of West Ham’s brilliant set of youngsters is one of the reasons Julen Lopetegui was so disliked.

However, the one youth prospect he did use was Oliver Scarles, but Graham Potter has already gone one step further by awarding the left-back his first start.

It’s an opportunity Scarles is extremely grateful for, even if the result wasn’t what he hoped for. “We’re disappointed with the result, especially having gone a goal up,” Scarles told the official site. “I thought we started really well, and we got the opening goal to go in front.”

“We knew they’re a good team, and it wasn’t going to be an easy game, and in the end unfortunately we weren’t able to get the result.”

“Tonight’s another good step for me, and I’m grateful to the manager and my teammates for their trust in me and for helping me through the game, and we’ll all move on together.”

“The manager hasn’t had long with us – we’ve literally had yesterday and today. We had a good training session yesterday, and I’m just grateful he showed faith in me and started me today.”

“It was a huge boost for me and the other young lads to hear him talk about the Academy. Hopefully we can keep getting more opportunities, and the chance to show what we can do.”

“I’m trying to take everything in my stride. I’ve made my FA Cup debut tonight, which is another step in the right direction, and hopefully I can keep pushing on.”

“The away fans were brilliant today, and hearing my name being chanted was another boost. I really loved it, and I can’t wait to get out there again.”

His man of the match performance should hopefully be enough to see him get consistent game time under the gaffer – it’s the least he deserves.