Referencing to another cell

[AlanLau]

Hi guys, I'm on M365

I have a drop down list with numbers on H8

When I do a =COUNTIFS(Sheet1!B2:B1295,"&H8&*",Sheet1!H2:H1295,""), the result was a 0 but if I were to replace H8 to 261*, =COUNTIFS(Sheet1!B2:B1295,"261*",Sheet1!H2:H1295,""), the result was correct. Please assist 

[#2]

@AlanLau Try replacing "&H8&*" by H8&"*"