West Ham United legend Alvin Martin says it was an “incredible feeling” to watch his son David make his debut for the club against Chelsea.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 win, having spent most of his career prior to joining the Hammers in the summer in the lower leagues of English football.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Alvin said: “I think the thing that struck me, going to the game, was how much it meant to him. One of the press guys at West Ham, after he’d been there for about six weeks, said to me ‘I’ve never seen a player who is so excited about being here’ and that’s the truth, that’s not made up.

“I knew what it meant to him and he knew what it meant to his family, and so when you build it up to that, and that was what I was worried about, that he’d built it up so much over a couple of days, that it was going to affect him."

He continued: “I know he’s tough and I know he can handle things, but it meant a lot, so from that point of view, when he came up the stairs [to see me] and he knew he’d done it and it was over, he just didn’t want to let anyone down.

“It’s an incredible feeling as a parent. As a sportsman who played at the highest level, the high that you get are unbelievable, but they are well down the pecking order when something like that happens with a child of yours.

“You’ve seen him progress and go through ups and downs. I was on the radio a year ago doing an interview after David had made the biggest mistake of his career, and those four days were probably four of the hardest days I’ve ever had as a parent.”