West Ham head coach Graham Potter explained that being sacked by Chelsea made him "a stronger person".

Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea in September 2022, but lasted under seven months in post at Stamford Bridge.

He returned to management in January, taking over from Julen Lopetegui at West Ham, and suggested that he is now better equipped to deal with the rigours of the job.

"At the time you can imagine I wasn't in a good place because you are disappointed to lose your job and it hasn't gone very well, or clearly as well as you'd like," Potter told Football Focus. "It was a tough moment."

"The worst that can happen is you can lose your job and you can still be alright, you can still move forward, still have something to offer, still grow as a person.

"That bubble we're in, it can be a little too far down the rabbit hole. Be grateful for the good and the bad, just deal with it."

Having gone straight from Brighton, where he spent three years, to Chelsea, Potter said that he needed the time off after leaving Stamford Bridge.

"It was nice to get out of the bubble – 12 years, you can end up lacking a bit of perspective," he said.

"To zoom out and see the world and football for what it is, and hopefully it makes you a better person and better manager.

"I had a really good experience at Brighton and a not so good one at Chelsea, so you're trying to find the next step.

"You want to go and work but there's not many of us [managers] in the Premier League, so you have to be patient."

Since taking over at the London Stadium, Potter has managed just one victory in his opening five games in all competitions, including a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea last time out, with the Hammers sitting 15th in the Premier League ahead of facing Brentford on Saturday.

While people are unlikely to want to wait, he said that it will take "a lot of work" to get the team up to his required standard.

"You don't want to be that coach that asks for time, but that's ultimately how you improve," Potter explained.

"In the end it's not some magic gimmick, it's not some clever culture programme, it's time.

"The more good and bad situations you go through, you build a trust and understanding of each other.

"It's still the Premier League and the competition is still the competition. It's unrelenting and it's demanding."