Rice reveals his debut fan fears

Declan Rice returns to the day job on Saturday evening against Everton after producing a fine defensive midfield performance for England which inevitably was criticised by some – even Hammers!

With the worries of recent events behind him it’s back to West Ham duty although for the first time he has been moved to reveal some fears as he made his entry onto the international  scene.

Despite his clear ability not to respond in any other way but calmly in the face of the knockers, his anxieties grew as he waited for a possible debut against the Czech Republic.

And he was ready to explain that he believed he would get booed when he arrived on the pitch given his switch of allegiance from the Republic to England.

It didn’t affect his performance when he arrived as a 64th minute sub which is praiseworthy and a sign – well known to his supporters – that he concentrates on the job in hand.

He said – as reported by the Daily Star“I thought that maybe there was going to be some booing. I didn’t know how the fans would take to me.

“But the reception from the England fans has been top class. They have taken to me. To get the claps at the end and coming on at Wembley to a massive roar, I thank them very much because it gives me the confidence to perform.

“With the stuff that happened before, you never know in football and I thought some people might not be happy.”

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon