For the second pre-season in succession, Andy Irving got West Ham United up and running as his opening goal set the foundation for a 3-1 win at Grasshopper Club Zurich in Switzerland.
The Scotland international announced his arrival at the Club with the winner at Dagenham & Redbridge a year ago, and he was at it again at GC/Campus.
Irving hit the target on 13 minutes with a confident, accurate low left-foot finish into the bottom right-hand corner, with his goal highlighting an impressive first-half performance from the tall No39.
The goal and win came at the end of a week of hard work on the training pitch and in the gym across the border in south-western Germany, and the midfielder believes it has been a productive time for the squad under the guidance of Head Coach Graham Potter and his staff.
“It was really enjoyable,” he told West Ham TV. “I felt like it was a really good test for us, to be honest. I think the game was really, really positive, the way that we played. I think a lot of the things that we worked on throughout the week, you could really see out on the pitch.
“I’m delighted, obviously, with scoring. I mean, I want to score as many goals as possible, so it was great. I’m delighted to get on the scoresheet and start pre-season off well.
“It’s been absolutely brilliant [this week], to be honest. All the boys have been saying how good it’s been in that it’s been a great balance of training hard, working hard, meetings and whatnot, and a bit of free time as well, so it’s been absolutely brilliant.
“The facilities were top class. No one can complain about it. It was fantastic, really good.”
Next up for Irving and his teammates, following a few days back in London at Rush Green, is a trip to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series, where they will tackle Manchester United, Everton and AFC Bournemouth in the space of nine days in New Jersey, Chicago and Atlanta respectively.
Having travelled to Florida with the squad a year ago, the 25-year-old is looking forward to crossing the Atlantic again in Claret and Blue.
“It’s going to be brilliant,” he enthused. “I think it’ll be another good experience to go out to America, get a feel for it over there.
“We’re going to enjoy three cool cities, three good games, so I’ve got a lot to look forward to!”
