West Ham United defender Carl Jenkinson has expressed his excitement ahead of the new season after making his first appearance on Tuesday following his loan return from Arsenal.

The 23-year-old, who also spent last season on loan at Upton Park, played in the Hammers' pre-season 1-0 win over Norwich City at Carrow Road last night.

Ahead of the new Premier League season, which gets underway next weekend, Jenkinson believes that the arrival of manager Slaven Bilic and the eight new signings give the team reason for optimism.

"Even after just a couple of weeks off you start to miss it and it's nice to be back in front of our away following, which is always great - I really enjoyed it," Jenkinson told the club's official website.

"There have been a lot of changes, but the change is for the positive. You look at the players who have been brought in and they are fantastic players. There's a lot of reason to be optimistic for the season because I think we're shaping up really well."

West Ham's first league game is against Jenkinson's parent club Arsenal at the Emirates on August 9.