SHUAN NEWTON took his home bow in the 1-1 draw against Crewe at Upton Park on Tuesday night, but the 29-year-old was disappointed not to have left the Stadium celebrating his first win in claret and blue.
The former Charlton and Wolves star made his debut against Reading, and after that game was determined to put things right with the visit of the Railwaymen. Teddy Sheringham's wonderful free-kick looked to have given Shaun his first three points with the Hammers until Steve Jones' last minute equaliser left the London-born player reflecting on a draw.
"The team certainly performed better than we did against Reading," admitted Shaun. "We played some good, positive football and created a few excellent chances. Unfortunately, we lacked a bit of a killer instinct in front of goal and that cost us.
"Crewe were a hard working team and they made it difficult for us, but when you create chances you've got to put them away and we didn't do that.
"A second goal would have really killed them off, but it wasn't to be and once they had got an equaliser so late on there was no chance of us getting back into the game."
Despite his football being severely limited during the final days of his Molineux career, Shaun has looked solid in his two outings for the Hammers so far, and was pleased with the way he acquitted himself on his home debut.
"From a personal point of view I thought I did quite well," he said, "but it's difficult to consider your own performance when you lose a goal at the end like that.
"It's gutting for the whole team, but we've got to pick ourselves up now for what will be a very tough game at home to Leicester on Friday night.
"That was always going to be a massive game, but after the Crewe result it takes on extra significance, and it really is one which we've got to win.
"It's very important that we build our confidence back up and go into Friday's game with the belief that we can get a result.
"The results from the other games have gone for us this week, we haven't lost much ground and that means if we can get a win against Leicester we can put ourselves back in touch with the Play-off places."
One thing which has certainly impressed Shaun is two Hammers appearances to date has been the passion of the Upton Park crowd, who yet again provided fantastic backing against the Railwaymen.
"I obviously knew from other players about the atmosphere here," he said, "and it was great to experience it for myself. There's nothing like playing in front of a huge crowd that give you the kind of support that they give, and obviously we're disappointed that we couldn't send them away with three points.
"Hopefully, we can put that right against Leicester and start getting back on a winning run. But we need the fans on our side. They can be a huge force, and we need them to really get behind the team and the manager, and hopefully we'll be able to deliver for them on Friday night."