Former Hearts man left with mixed emotions after landmark appearance in West Ham United's defeat at Chelsea

Former Hearts midfielder Andy Irving was left with ‘an amazing feeling’ after making his Premier League debut for West Ham United in Monday night’s defeat at Chelsea.

The Edinburgh-born midfielder left Tynecastle to join German minnows Türkgücü München during the summer of 2021 before moving to Austrian club SK Klagenfurt on a free transfer 12 months later. After scoring 16 goals and providing 14 assists in 64 appearances during a 13-month stay with the Bundesliga outfit, Irving secured a £1.25m move to West Ham United on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2023. A loan stint back at Klagenfurt came to an end last summer and Irving made his Hammers debut as a substitute in a 3-0 home defeat against Chelsea in September last year. After making eight further substitute appearances over the last four months, the former Hearts academy star made his first Premier League start against the same opposition as Graham Potter’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking after the game, Irving admitted to having mixed emotions over his landmark appearance as he revealed his pride over the full debut for the Hammers had been dampened by their defeat.

He told the Hammers YouTube channel: “To have my first start in the Premier League with West Ham, it’s an amazing feeling. I’m just disappointed it didn’t go the way I would have love it to by taking three points - but I think, on the all, it was a really good performance from the team, we had a lot of chances and I think we limited them to a few as well. There are a lot of positives to take and last weekend was also a great performance. There is a lot to take and to build on and I think you can see the cohesion in the team. It’s a really positive environment and I think we will move on.”

After being handed his first West Ham appearance under the management of Julen Lopetegui, Irving is now hoping to impress new boss Graham Potter after he was named as the Spaniard’s successor last month. The former Scotland Under-21 international has been impressed with what he has witnessed from his new manager and is keen to show he can adapt to the challenges of life in English football’s elite over the coming weeks and months.

He said: “I think since the manager has come in, it’s been brilliant. Anytime him or his staff have spoken to me it’s been positive and I think it’s been like that with every player. Every day in training has been brilliant, really enjoyable and I have been training well, working really hard and I feel that hard work is paying off at the moment. I am delighted with that. It takes time to adapt but I think I’ve had enough tasters of that this season to get a grip of it and I think I handled it pretty well for 75 minutes just before I went off with a little knock. The intensity is mad to be honest, the physical output you have to put in - but I am working like mad in the gym three or five times a week to adapt to it.”

Irving will hope to be handed another chance to shine in the starting eleven when West Ham host Brentford on Saturday week.

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