West Ham youngster Dan Chesters has thanked Mark Noble after the teenager made his senior debut on Thursday night during the closing stages of the Hammers 3-0 Europa League win over Genk.
Chesters was a late call-up to the matchday squad and with the Hammers cruising to victory, David Moyes made him the ninth academy player to make his debut under the Scot since January 2020.
The 19-year-old revealed that during his four-minute cameo, Noble was constantly looking for him down the Hammers right in order to get the attacking midfielder on the ball as much as possible.
Chesters appreciated the thoughtfulness of his captain and thanked him for the effort.
"I think Nobes kept trying to go down the right-hand side to try and get me on the ball as much as he could," Chester told WHUTV. "I’d like to thank him as well.
"I’d like to thank all my family for helping me get here. My Mum and Dad have always taken me to training, and I’d like to thank my girlfriend, because she looks after me a lot."
Chesters admitted his call-up to the team came as a shock and even once it had sunk in, he only expected to have a role as a squad member for the evening.
"I’m speechless – I’m lost for words," he said. "I was training [with the U23s], and I got a text to come over to the hotel in Stratford. I thought I was just going to be in the squad, but I got on and… it’s amazing!
"To be fair, the crowd was hyping me up and giving me lots of encouragement. I was excited to get on the pitch. When we went to 3-0 up, I was like ‘I think I might have a chance of coming on’ – and then the manager gave me the shout, and I’m just thankful for the opportunity. He said ‘just try and create an impact – and have fun.’
"I had to show what I’m good at, but I only had four minutes, so I just tried to run around and do my job for the team."
Despite making his senior debut, Chesters is keeping his feet on the ground and looking forward to returning to the U23 team and pushing his cause for further first-team action.
"I just can’t wait to play on Saturday [against Manchester United U23] and hopefully score a goal or make an impact and hopefully I’ll get the call-up and be on the [first-team] bench again soon," he added.
