Julius OkorieNewly appointed West Ham Coach Graham Potter, was handed baptism of fire in his first outing Friday as The Hammers were bundled out in the third round of the FA Cup by rampant Aston Villa.
The former Chelsea boss who was returning to club management after close to two years hiatus, described the defeat as a punch in the stomach.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe new Hammers boss watched his side concede twice in five second-half minutes as Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers overturned Lucas Paqueta’s early strike to put Villa into the fourth round.
Potter returned to the dugout for the first time since being sacked as Chelsea boss in April 2023 after he replaced Julen Lopetegui on Thursday.
West Ham started brightly and controlled much of the game but first-half injuries to Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville allowed Villa to put them under pressure in the second half.
‘Our performance gave me a lot of encouragement, the way the players tried to do what we asked them to do was really encouraging,’ said Potter. ‘It is just that you can’t replicate that feeling when the opposition score and it’s into your stomach, but it is what it is.
‘We had a couple of chances at the end but it wasn’t meant to be and their first goal came from a corner that we didn’t think it was. We are disappointed.’
Potter confirmed £27million summer signing striker Fullkrug, who missed three months earlier in the season with an Achilles problem, looks to have suffered another serious injury.
READ ALSO: Graham Potter Sure Of Smooth Sail At West Ham, To Face Aston Villa Friday
‘It’s quite a severe hamstring when you pull up like that, so that’s a concern for us,’ added Potter. ‘We need to assess him. Crysencio pulled up a little bit, we didn’t think it was worth the risk to carry on.’
The Hammers boss admitted losing two key forwards to injury might mean the club have to dip into the transfer market this month but would not be drawn on rumours linking the club with a move for out-of-favour Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.
Potter will be hoping to have something to cheer about when West Ham hosts Fulham in the EPL on Tuesday. FA Cup third round clashes continue today with more teams expected to join West Ham in the exit door. Some of the heavy weight fixtures today include Liverpool against Accrington Stanley, Leicester City against Queens Park Rangers,Norwich City against Brighton and Chelsea against Morecambe.
Manchester City will also face Salford City while Nottingham Forest settle scores with Luton Town.
Manchester United are the current holders of the FA Cup after defeating Manchester City 2-1, May 25 last year at the Wembley Stadium.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
