Young defender Ollie Scarles admitted to being caught up in a mixture of emotions after his full domestic debut for West Ham United ended in a narrow 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa and an early exit from the Emirates FA Cup.
The 19-year-old was named in Graham Potter’s first starting XI as the Hammers’ Head Coach, beginning a first-team game for just the second time, and the first since a UEFA Europa Conference League win over FCSB in November 2022.
Two impressive appearances off the bench in December, in 1-1 Premier League draws away at AFC Bournemouth and at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, had clearly caught Potter’s eye, and Scarles was thrilled to be given his opportunity at Villa Park.
Some strong defensive work and consistently impressive link-up play in attack - particularly with Lucas Paquetá - added up to a Man of the Match showing by the Academy of Football graduate, but second-half goals from Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers ultimately cancelled out Paquetá’s early opener, and left the Irons frustrated.
“We’re disappointed with the result, especially having gone a goal up,” Scarles said. “I thought we started really well, and we got the opening goal to go in front.
“We knew they’re a good team, and it wasn’t going to be an easy game, and in the end unfortunately we weren’t able to get the result.
“Tonight’s another good step for me, and I’m grateful to the manager and my teammates for their trust in me and for helping me through the game, and we’ll all move on together.”
During his first pre-match press conference on Thursday, shortly after being confirmed as West Ham boss, Potter outlined his vision of utilising the Academy talent among the Claret and Blue ranks, before duly showing huge faith in Scarles in the West Midlands.
Though he has only been afforded one training session to work with the new man at the helm, our No57 is encouraged by the early stages under his tutelage, and is determined to add to his appearance tally in the coming weeks.
He also reserved a mention for the incredible 6,000-strong travelling support on Friday night, who paid tribute to Scarles’ showing by singing his name from the stands.
He added: “The manager hasn’t had long with us - we’ve literally had yesterday and today. We had a good training session yesterday, and I’m just grateful he showed faith in me and started me today.
“It was a huge boost for me and the other young lads to hear him talk about the Academy. Hopefully we can keep getting more opportunities, and the chance to show what we can do.
“I’m trying to take everything in my stride. I’ve made my FA Cup debut tonight, which is another step in the right direction, and hopefully I can keep pushing on.
“The away fans were brilliant today, and hearing my name being chanted was another boost. I really loved it, and I can’t wait to get out there again.”
