West Ham United defender Declan Rice has dedicated their shock defeat of Chelsea to the fans.

Rice led the Hammers as captain to a thrilling 3-2 Premier League victory over Chelsea.

“Mate, what a buzz!" he told the club's website. “The only thing I could say is I wish the fans were here to witness that. We know it hasn't been good enough as a team recently but tonight we showed the fans we do care, we do work hard and we have got quality and everything tonight emphasised what we are all about – grit, desire, hard work – and there wasn't one of the lads who didn't give everything. It's a deserved three points.

“It's special. Obviously Nobes wasn't available tonight so the manager gave [the captaincy] to me. Without Nobes's guidance I wouldn't be able to put on the armband, really, and obviously the manager giving me his trust in a big derby game was special. I've been taking and learning bits from Nobes and watching the big leaders over the years and trying to put bits into my game and push the team on with little words of encouragement – 'Keep going! Keep working hard! It's coming!' – and that really lifts someone.

“I want to keep helping the team as much as possible. I want to help the team get out of this position. No-one wants to be in it and if we play like we did tonight we'll be just fine."