Aaron Cresswell felt there were positive signs for West Ham United as life under Graham Potter began with a closely-contested 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Friday night.
The Hammers’ longest-serving player came off the bench in Potter’s first game as Head Coach, as his side started strongly and took an early lead through Lucas Paquetá, but were pushed back as the game wore on and ultimately exited the Emirates FA Cup at the third round stage due to two goals in the contest’s final quarter.
Although the Irons made the journey back to London with nothing to show for their efforts, Cresswell believes there is plenty to build on, not least because Friday’s game came after just a solitary training session under Potter’s leadership.
Now, with two home Premier League derbies to come against Fulham and Crystal Palace in the space of the next week, the No3 says the work will continue immediately as the team look to get moving in the right direction.
“Friday’s match probably came a little bit too soon in terms of preparation for the game,” Cresswell admitted. “The new manager didn't have much time to prepare for the game, but I thought we stuck together.
“I thought we showed some of the tactics that he wanted and we implemented them really well throughout the game. It was a tough night, but I thought we did well.
“I was delighted for Ollie [Scarles] to come in, get another match, and he was fantastic.
“It’s tough that we haven't gone through to the next round. But we look forward to Tuesday night now.”
Having worked under Sam Allardyce, Slaven Bilić, David Moyes, Manuel Pellegrini, Julen Lopetegui and now Potter in his decade as a Hammer, Cresswell is used to the period of adaptation that follows a change at the helm.
He is sure the squad can build towards a positive second half of the campaign in the Premier League and implement Potter's ideas swiftly.
The next opportunity to do so comes in Tuesday's London Stadium meeting with Fulham, for which tickets are available via the Ticket Exchange.
"It's never easy when the manager leaves and a new one comes in," Cresswell added. "But, look, it's partly the players' fault not performing.
"We've got to look forward now and move forward. We're looking forward to Tuesday night.
"We only had a couple of days [before Villa] to sit down, go through tactics and how he wants to work and implement his style. Certainly over the years I've played against his Brighton side and Chelsea side and they've played some lovely football.
"I'm sure over time, you know, we'll get to that stage, and as I say, we're looking forward now to Tuesday night.
"We'll have time to work from Saturday and keep pushing forward."
