George McCartney felt a mixture of pride and disappointment following Sunday's FA Cup with Budweiser third-round defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

The left-back began the afternoon by leading West Ham United out at Hillsborough as captain for the first time, but was left feeling low after a 1-0 reverse saw them knocked out of the competition at the first hurdle.

The popular defender, who is enjoying a strong season after re-joining the Hammers on a season-long loan from Sunderland, admitted to having mixed emotions about his afternoon.

"It was great for me for me to lead the team out - a real honour and a proud moment," he said. "Obviously it was a shame we lost the game but when I was told I was being captain, I was pleased and it was nice for me.

"I am enjoying being back here at West Ham and so it was good to have that extra boost of wearing the armband. I think if anything like that is asked of you, it is a great thing to do."

Now 30, McCartney is experienced enough to know when a team should triumph and admitted the Hammers missed too many opportunities at Hillsborough. The profligacy proved costly as Chris O'Grady fired Wednesday through with an 88th-minute winner.

The Belfast-born player said West Ham could not afford to be so wasteful when they head to Portsmouth in the npower Championship on Saturday.

"We had enough chances to win the game. We know that and we have to take that fact as why we lost the game. As the gaffer said, we didn't finish off our chances. I felt we played well enough to win. It was disappointing to lose but there were a lot of positive things.

"You don't want to lose any game, in the cup or in the league, but we move on now and have an important game at Portsmouth next week. We got three points against Coventry in our last league game and now we will look to try and get a result at Portsmouth and hopefully get a little run going again in the league."

While Sunday's defeat was clearly hugely disappointing, McCartney was impressed with many of the younger players he lined up alongside.

Following the substitutions of John Carew and Gary O'Neil, the No3 was the only West Ham player on the pitch over the age of 25 for the final stages of the tie.

McCartney was impressed with the likes of Dan Potts, Rob Hall, Henri Lansbury, Frank Nouble and Brian Montenegro and beileves all could play their part in the Hammers' quest for promotion back to the Premier League.

"I was probably one of the older ones! There were a few young lads out there as the Gaffer made a few changes, but they did well and dug in.

"Obviously we will have some players back in for Portsmouth that didn't play there and that will strengthen us, but there are a few young lads looking to catch the Gaffer's eye and I am sure we will see more of them as the season goes on."