- West Ham United’s U23 boss Terry Westley was delighted as his team progressed to the last-16 of the Premier League Cup
- With a Group E game left to spare, the Hammers secured their place in the next round with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest
- West Ham won the match in style with three fantastic goals
A place in the last-16 of the Premier League Cup for West Ham United’s U23s was secured in style on Monday night as Terry Westley’s men beat Nottingham Forest 3-0.
The boss was delighted as his youngsters played their opponents off the park at Dagenham and Redbridge’s Victoria Road to book their spot in the knockout rounds with one Group E match to spare.
Joe Powell’s first half brace gave the hosts the initiative and Nathan Holland rounded off a fine evening for the Hammers with a 89th minute third.
Westley and his staff were thrilled as their players gave them everything that was demanded.
He said: “We told the lads that a win will put you through, and we’re holders and we want to try and hang onto the competition, and we played with some style tonight too.
“Both those boxes got massive ticks tonight so we’re absolutely delighted. When you look at our team, with seven youth team players on the pitch at the end and we’ve got through to the last-16, the boys deserve great credit.
“It’s one game, we’ve said, and you need to roll your sleeves up and win this. We did that in style and we had some outstanding performers.
“The captain Declan Rice was outstanding, a nine out of ten, Nathan Holland; what a signing that looks to be. And Domingos Quina, for a first year scholar, lightens the pitch up every time he plays.”
Powell’s first half double was particularly pleasing for the manager to see, given the winger has not been playing his natural position recently.
“We’ve had to play with a loose nine and so between Nathan Holland and Joe Powell, Grady Diangana, Dan Kemp at times…we’ve had to mix it up,” Westley continued.
“One will go into that position and one will come short and for young players, we’ve done that very effectively. We got a goal at Blackburn, two against Leicester and tonight we’ve got three. That’s pleasing and we’ve looked a threat at the top despite not playing with a recognised number nine.
“The manner in which we played, the organisation we showed; Liam Manning deserves great credit, because he’s come to the Club and the work he does shows on the pitch.”
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