Irving Delighted with Debut Performance for West Ham against Chelsea, Says Hard Work Paid Off

The Scotsman finally made his long-awaited debut for the club in the 72nd-minute, coming on as a substitute for Lucas Paquetá. This moment had been over a year in the making since he first signed for the club and then went out on loan to his former club Austria Klagenfurt.

He spoke about how proud he is to make his debut after so much hard work over the past year. 

“It feels amazing to have made my debut,” he said. “Since I signed for the Club the biggest thing for me was playing in the Premier League for West Ham, so I’m really happy that I’ve been able to do that and that my hard work has paid off. 

“I had a good pre-season, and my aim was to be in and around it when we got to the end of the transfer window. I had the choice to maybe go somewhere else, but my conversations with Julen Lopetegui and the other coaches were really positive. 

“I’ve put in a lot of work, and I wanted to stay and show what I can do. It was good to get on against Chelsea; it’s just a shame about the result on the day because it was disappointing for everyone.” 

Irving also spoke on the weekend's loss and how tough each league side are. 

“Chelsea are a good team, with a lot of strengths and quality. Their goals were really good, at key moments, and we weren’t able to get ourselves going or keep ourselves in the game which was frustrating. 

“But the ideas the coaches are trying to implement are really good, and we’re doing our best to make it work. It just takes time, and I’m sure we can definitely turn things around into a more positive situation. 

“Every game in the Premier League is tough, and we know we’re going to face challenges, but the quality of our squad will shine through. Liverpool is a tough place to go, but we believe we can turn it around at Anfield. Hopefully I can be involved and make that happen again.”