Before kick-off at London Stadium on Sunday, West Ham United striker Callum Wilson had played 245 times in the Premier League without facing a former club.
Wilson quickly put sentiment aside as he finally faced one of his ex-employers, Newcastle United, and helped Nuno Espírito Santo to his first win as Head Coach.
The Hammers fell behind inside four minutes, but fought back to win 3-1, with Wilson giving his ex-teammates Sven Botman and Fabian Schär no peace throughout his 61 minutes on the pitch.
And the No9, who made his first start under Nuno, hopes our victory over the Magpies proves to be a catalyst ahead of this weekend’s important clash with Burnley.
“We’re over the moon and absolutely delighted, but it has to be a catalyst, it's something to build on,” said Wilson. “It was a vital three points against a great team, and we have to now look forward to the next game and try and put in the same performance that we did today.
“It was an unusual feeling (facing his former side, where he spent five seasons), but there are no friends out there when you walk across the white line and step on the pitch.
“We knew it was a game where one of us had to try and put our best foot forward, and we did that thankfully and got the three points on the board, which was amazing.
“We knew we were coming up against a team that's been in good form over the past couple of weeks, so it was a challenge, and we rose to that and managed to come out on top.
“We've been working hard on the training pitch, working hard in matches to try and get a win and get points to move up the table, and thankfully we did that, and it's gone in line with the Head Coach’s first win.”
Meanwhile, Wilson praised the support of the Hammers fans and says Sunday's 3-1 win was a reward for their continued support and sticking with the players through thick and thin during the early stages of the season.
He added: “We try and give back as much as we can [to the fans], and we work hard week in, week out.
“Unfortunately it's not been going our way, but today it did, and hopefully we can build on that, as we've got another important home game coming on Saturday.”
