Danny Gabbidon had mixed emotions after making his first West Ham United start in 21 months at Wigan Athletic.
The 30-year-old Wales defender has battled back to full fitness after suffering a complex abdominal injury. Gabbidon, whose last Barclays Premier League start came at Blackburn Rovers on 9 December 2007, produced a calm and composed performance at left-back on Saturday.
The Cwmbran-born player's only previous run-out this season had been in the Carling Cup tie against Millwall last month. He told WHUTV he has been delighted to pull on a claret and blue shirt again after so long on the sidelines. That said, the result at the DW Stadium had dampened the mood.
"It was a bit frustrating, to be honest," he said. "It was nice to be out there back playing, but it was a frustrating game. I thought maybe they were there for the taking and we didn't really play great. We can play a lot better than that.
"We didn't really kick into life until they scored, then we created some chances. Up until then, it was pretty much of a stalemate game. It was a disappointing because I didn't think either team really deserved to lose. A draw probably would have been a fair result.
"We had some good chances after they scored and I was disappointed that we didn't get the equaliser."
CLICK HERE TO VIEW DANNY GABBIDO'S FULL WHUTV INTERVIEW
Gabbidon, who also started Wales' 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Russia in Cardiff last Wednesday, was understandably pleased to have come through the past week unscathed.
"It felt good. Obviously I would have preferred to play centre-half to left-back, as it's been a while since I've played there. It just felt great to be out there again. It was a tough game and I enjoyed every minute of it.
"It's been a while since I've played full-back in the Premier League, and obviously I was disappointed with the result, but it was nice to get a game under my belt."