JAMES Tomkins only briefly celebrated his breakthrough into the West Ham first team before insisting that he is back on the hard-graft trail in an attempt to earn another chance.
The 18-year-old (pictured) made his Premier League bow in the Irons 1-1 draw with Everton and put in a mature performance that suggests he is a star in the making for the club.
Significantly, the match marked ten years of development at the club for a defender who has worked his way through the ranks at Upton Park.
Now Tomkins, who turns 19 on Saturday, insists that he can't sit on his laurels if he wants the taste of senior football with his boyhood club again.
He said: "I'm hoping to get another chance before the end of the season.
"I will just have to wait and see. I've got to keep working and improving and be patient.
"Playing in the Premier League was amazing.
"Nothing could beat that feeling and now I've have a taste of it I want to experience it again and again."
Tomkins revealed that he suffered sleepless night in the run up to the match at Goodison Park.
But he was happy to endure it all in order to achieve his dream of turning out in the claret and blue shirt.
"I hardly had any sleep over the weekend. I couldn't sleep the night before the game and I couldn't sleep at all the night after," said Tomkins, who almost capped a memorable day with a goal when he headed against the crossbar after only four minutes.
"I was thinking before that I could be playing and I had prepared as if I was, which is what I always do.
"But when the manager named the team I was absolutely buzzing.
"I was thinking 'This is what I have been playing for for so many years. This is what I live for'."
As accomplished as his first appearance was overall, it wasn't the best of starts for Tomkins.
The centre back was too easily rolled by Everton's Aiyegbeni Yakuku, who raced through to lash home the opener and put the Hammers on the back foot after only seven minutes.
However, it is a credit to the youngster that he changed his game to cope with the powerful Nigerian thereafter - a fitting testament of his calm and calculated approach to the game and proof of why the club's staff were keen to give him a run out in the first place.
"I learned a lot more about what he (Yakubu) was going to do as the game went on," said the ball-playing defender.
"He was stronger than me so after the goal, when he rolled me, I didn't want to get too tight to him.
"I have high expectations of myself. I just play to 110 per cent and play every game as if it's going to be my last."
Judging on his performance and grounded mentality, his first appearance for the club is sure to be far from his last.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article