West Ham United defender Jose Fonte, has shared delight at a "fantastic" performance on his return to former club Southampton with a 3-1 victory at the St Mary's Stadium.

Strange experience

It has only been weeks since his £8 million move to the London Stadium, and soon enough the former Saint's skipper was back on the South Coast.

Slaven Bilic's side had a point to prove after Wednesday's defeat to Manchester City, and looked to be in trouble when Manolo Gabbiadini opened the scoring early on.

The Hammers bounced back with goals from Andy Carroll, Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble giving them the victory, and the 33-year-old defender shared his delight a his return. “It was a strange experience coming back to Southampton," Fonte told whufc.com. “It was emotional, difficult."

"But in the end I can say a big thank you to everyone," the defender admitted. "To the West Ham supporters and my teammates for helping me get through this."

“I managed to block everything [out] and stay focused on the game," he stated. "The most important thing was achieved, which is the three points and a great performance."

“It’s never easy [after a result like Wednesday’s against Manchester City]," he stressed. "It wasn’t the start I wanted, we weren’t at the races, but we showed great character and personality to come and play."

“We played some great football scored three goals and could have scored a couple more," Fonte added. "It was a fantastic performance from everyone today and we move on to the next one."

Made to feel very welcome

The St Mary's Stadium was the very destination for the full debut of another January signing, with Robert Snodgrass making his full debut after his £10.2m move from Hull City.

The Scottish international impressed, and he stated that he has been made to feel welcome at the London club. “The lads have been terrific,” he confirmed. “Everyone has been so welcoming."

"The fans have wished me all the best," the 29-year-old stated. "I just wanted to get down to business and playing games and starting games and working hard for the team."

“We need to keep going," he stressed. "We’ve got a home game against West Brom."

"We’ll go in believing we can win," Snodgrass concluded. "Get some more points on the board with the aim of finishing in the top ten.”

West Ham United will take on West Bromwich Albion at the London Stadium on Saturday, February 11 with kick-off T 3pm GMT.