Ricardo Vaz Te was delighted to make his first Barclays Premier League start on Saturday since dislocating his shoulder last October, but disappointed his comeback ended in defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The winger played 68 minutes of the Hammers' season opener, linking up promisingly with Aaron Cresswell down the left hand side and he is hoping to feature in that partnership on a more regular basis.
He explained: "I've been working with Aaron in training down the left and we've had the whole pre-season, which has helped a lot.
"I haven't had much chance to play with him, but obviously I've seen him every day in training. We spoke before the game and made sure we kept communicating throughout it.
"He's a terrific player and that obviously helps [with linking up] a lot."
Vaz Te was as surprised as anyone to see Mark Noble miss the Hammers' first half penalty but is sure he and the team will bounce back swiftly.
He added: "We all felt he'd score, because you know Nobes - five out of five he'll score. For him to miss is very, very rare but it happens in the game.
"Messi, Cristiano [Ronaldo] miss, but we should have reacted anyway. We created enough chances, but we needed to take them."
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