Twenty-four years and 240 days since his Dad, first-team coach Steve, made his final Premier League start for West Ham United in March 2001, Freddie Potts wrote a new chapter of his own promising career on Sunday.
It was a landmark moment for the Academy of Football graduate, as the young midfielder made his first Premier League start in our 3-1 victory against Newcastle United at London Stadium, which was our first under Nuno Espírito Santo and first at home since February.
The Hammers fell behind when Jacob Murphy put the visitors ahead. However, that sparked us into life, and Lucas Paquetá netted for the third time this season to level things, and in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time, an own-goal from Sven Botman put us in front.
We would have to survive a few scares late on, after Potts almost capped a dream full top-flight debut with a memorable goal, only to see it disallowed for a marginal offside, but substitute Tomáš Souček wrapped up the points with virtually the last touch of a match to register a priceless three points, and ensure we head into next weekend’s clash with Burnley brimming with confidence.
Potts’ assured display in midfield alongside Mateus Fernandes impressed the Claret and Blue faithful, and the 22-year-old was rightfully proud of his achievement and expressed pride in his performance and gratitude for the opportunity to step into the starting XI.
“I just wanted to fight for my shirt,” Potts beamed. “I think it's a saying, but you've got to do everything on the pitch to show the manager and show everyone that you want to be here and you want to play in the Premier League, and I just wanted to win every battle that I could out there and do everything I could for the team, and I think we all did that together as a team today.
“I think it wasn't just me, but there were a lot of players, everyone did it. We all fought for the shirt, and we came away with three points, which I think was deserved.
“I feel like everyone today showed that we've got the character and the challenge to come back from positions that we have been in the past, and we can win games, especially against teams like Newcastle who attack really well.
“We can definitely attack back and win games, and we showed that today, that we've got that fight and desire, and I feel like everyone showed that, and it was really good to see.
"I haven't seen it (his offside goal), but, honestly, after that goal when it was ruled offside, I forgot about it until someone told me after the game.
“I was told by Ollie [Scarles] it was so close, and I remembered about it, but the main thing today was to come into the team and help everyone and do what I can, and, thankfully, we showed a performance and fight where we were deserving of three points.”
Potts, who was awarded the Player of the Match, was also serenaded by the home faithful as chants of ‘One of our own’ rang around London Stadium, and he thanked our supporters for their efforts to provide us with plenty of vocal encouragement in east London.
He added: “It was good, it was really nice to hear, and I want to thank the fans, but when you're on the pitch and you're playing, you're focusing on what the task is, and obviously the task today was to play and get three points.
“I enjoyed it at the end after the game, but during the game I was just focusing on making sure everything I did was right and helping the team as much as I could, and today we did that.”
