Declan Rice says he felt he was destined to go out on loan following West Ham's defeat at Anfield on the opening day of the season.
The 20-year-old, who was last night named as London's Young Player of the Year in a ceremony staged at Battersea made his first competitive start as a midfielder in the 4-0 drubbing.And as a result, Rice says he felt he would be sent out on loan - rather than become an integral part of Manuel Pellegrini's first XI.
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"After that game I thought I wasn’t cut out for the Premier League," he told the Evening Standard's James Olley.
"I didn’t think, playing against Liverpool on that day, I was good enough to carry on playing. I thought then I had to go on loan and gain experience.
"But playing against Liverpool, they can do that. Things start going through your head, you start reading things, but in the end I knew I needed to stop being silly, block that out and keep working hard.
"I came in for the Wimbledon [Carabao Cup] game, the manager put his trust in me. I played well and then we had the Everton [away] game where we won our first game of the season.
"Since then we haven’t looked back. I’ve just looked forward and tried to be as positive as possible."
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And despite having made the breakthrough - and having been likened by Pellegrini to former Hammer Javier Mascherano - Rice insists that he is still very much learning his trade.
"I’ve taken that on board but I need to keep working because I am only 20 and I want to reach the top of my game," he added.
"As I’m growing up, going into holding midfield, I’m watching Busquets quite a lot for Barcelona.
"The way he controls the game, his reading of it, technically, defensively - everything about him cuts him out above the rest. I’m really enjoying watching him."
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