George McCartney admitted his second West Ham United debut had not exactly gone to plan.
The defender, who spent two seasons with the club between 2006 and 2008, was handed his bow in Wednesday's 2-1 Carling Cup first-round defeat by Aldershot Town. He has joined on a season-long loan from Sunderland
The 30-year-old began the tie against the League Two side in his usual position of left-back, only to be forced into the centre of defence when debutant Callum McNaughton was sent-off for a professional foul two minutes after half-time.
Despite being reduced to ten men, McCartney insisted a West Ham side that also contained Kevin Nolan, Winston Reid, Julien Faubert and substitutes Herita Ilunga and Matt Taylor should have been strong enough to maintain the lead given to them by Junior Stanislas' first-half goal.
Instead, The Shots fired back with two goals in the final 13 minutes to steal a place in the second round.
"It's very disappointing, especially going 1-0 up," he told West Ham TV. "Before the game, everybody probably expected us to win and win comfortably by three or four goals, but Aldershot like any other lower-league team, came and gave it their all.
"Once we had a man sent-off, they were pretty much on top of us and got the two goals.
"I think in the first half there wasn't really much in it. I didn't think either side was creating much or many chances, but when you go 1-0 up you try to see the game out.
"In the second half, you could say that the sending-off has changed the game, but we should be experienced enough to see the game out. If not, we should have got to extra time and penalties at least."
McCartney looked strong on what was just his second outing since re-joining the Hammers earlier this month. However, he knows only more game-time will help him to regain full match-fitness.
"It was OK. Obviously, aside from the reserve game last week, this was the first game I've played in a month or so. It's all about getting my fitness and match-sharpness back and the only way to do that is to play more games, so hopefully I'll get them and I'll feel better and enjoy winning next time."
The former Northern Ireland international's first West Ham debut ended in an infamous 2-1 League Cup defeat at Chesterfield in October 2006.
That season ended with an unforgettable great escape from relegation, and McCartney is hoping for a similarly successful end to the current campaign climaxing in promotion back to the Premier League.
That quest will continue when the Hammers head to Nottingham Forest in the npower Championship on Sunday - a match the Belfast-born player would love to be involved in if selected by manager Sam Allardyce.
"The team that was sent out was sent out to win the game, so everyone is very disappointed. We should have won the game but we didn't.
"Now we've just got to forget about it and fully concentrate on the league.
"I think it's obviously up to the manager, but the only way to get fitness is to play more games. It will be down to the manager what the team is, but as long as I stay fit and do my best in training every day, it'll be up to him whether he selects me or not."