Graham Potter likens West Ham’s FA Cup exit to a punch in the stomach – as quickfire Aston Villa double ruins his first match in charge

Graham Potter admitted that even after nearly two years away from management, nothing can replicate the punch in the stomach of the opposition scoring as his West Ham side crashed out of the FA Cup to Aston Villa in his first game in charge.

The new Hammers boss watched his side concede twice in five second-half minutes as Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers overturned Lucas Paqueta’s early strike to put Villa into the fourth round.

Potter returned to the dugout for the first time since being sacked as Chelsea boss in April 2023 after he replaced Julen Lopetegui on Thursday.

West Ham started brightly and controlled much of the game but first-half injuries to Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville allowed Villa to put them under pressure in the second half.

‘Our performance gave me a lot of encouragement, the way the players tried to do what we asked them to do was really encouraging,’ said Potter. ‘It is just that you can’t replicate that feeling when the opposition score and it’s into your stomach, but it is what it is.

‘We had a couple of chances at the end but it wasn’t meant to be and their first goal came from a corner that we didn’t think it was. We are disappointed.’

West Ham concedeed twice in five second-half minutes in defeat at Aston Villa

Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers scored in five second-half minutes for Aston Villa

Potter admits can replicate the punch in the stomach of  the opposition scoring

Potter confirmed £27million summer signing striker Fullkrug, who missed three months earlier in the season with an Achilles problem, looks to have suffered another serious injury.

‘It’s quite a severe hamstring when you pull up like that, so that’s a concern for us,’ added Potter. ‘We need to assess him. Crysencio pulled up a little bit, we didn’t think it was worth the risk to carry on.’

The Hammers boss admitted losing two key forwards to injury might mean the club have to dip into the transfer market this month but would not be drawn on rumours linking the club with a move for out-of-favour Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

‘We have to see the extent of the injuries and see how long it will take for guys to come back,’ said Potter. ‘We don’t know the extent. If those are out it’s something we have to look at.

‘I used to say this 20-odd months ago, I only comment on players who are West Ham players. Sometimes things written in the papers aren’t always true and you can get yourself in knots confirming and denying everything. It’s about the group collectively doing well. There’s no lack of talent at this club.’

Villa boss Unai Emery said: ‘West Ham started well and we conceded an easy goal. After we started to dominate the match better, not really creating very good chances to score but stopping them. We needed to be patient and then impose and be consistent in our attack.

‘This club won this competition seven times, we need to be proud of our past but be in the present and the future.’

Match-winner Rogers is dreaming of silverware. ‘Why can’t we win it? Anything can happen in a cup competition,’ he said.