The West Ham fans could have been forgiven for asking 'what happened to Tyrone Mears' after his brief spell at the Boleyn Ground - but the man himself hopes to have provided the answer.

Mears made his first return to East London since leaving the Hammers for Derby in January last year.

It was a goalscoring comeback too and on another day he could have been on target more than once in an all-action performance down Derby's right.

Such showings convinced the Hammers to sign him in the first place from Preston North End.

"It was really good to come back here, though not just for the staff but the fans as well," said Mears, who received a rousing reception from the home faithful before Derby's 2-1 defeat.

"They didn't really get the chance to show what I can do so I hope they're asking 'what happened to Tyrone Mears' now.

"I knew I could get in behind the defence with my pace, and the gaffer asked me at half-time why I hadn't been doing it in the first half.

"Before the goal I had a chance when I was stumbling and thought my heels had been clipped, but I took the second one."

But despite seeing their side pick up all three points, the Hammers' fans were scathing of their team's performance and booed the players off at the final whistle.

"The West Ham fans expect a lot from their team having spent a lot of money, and they expect to be beating us easily," Mears added.

"I thought we showed what we have in our locker, how we can play, and it's an unlucky story again but the manager was really happy with the second-half performance.

"He told us at half-time to go for it and we came out with all guns blazing - we battered West Ham in the end and created a lot of chances."

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