Kevin Keen was left cursing his luck after the reserves
were beaten by a last-minute goal against Charlton Athletic at The
Valley on Monday night.
The Hammers coach saw his young troops go down to a 94th minute strike from Addicks forward Alex Varney that signalled a fourth successive defeat and made it two losses in the space of three days following Friday's 2-0 reverse at Ipswich Town.
"It was a major blow, because we had a young and experienced side out who had fought so hard and even created a few chances in the second half," said Kevin. "To lose it that way right at the end was very disappointing.
"It was a tough game, especially in the first half, when we were second best. Stephen Bywater made some very good saves, we had a little bit of luck, and there was also some good defending.
"In the second half, we expressed ourselves a little bit more and posed a greater attacking threat. Kyel Reid had a good chance, Hogan Ephraim had a couple, but we just didn't get the break in front of goal and that's how it has been going for us recently.
"We played extremely well at Norwich and lost 2-1, we battled hard and put a lot of effort in at Ipswich on Friday and lost 2-0, and it was a similar story last night - we deserved more than we got.
"It's a good learning experience for the youngsters, though. I'm sure playing against those senior players will stand them in good stead."
The Hammers coach saw his young troops go down to a 94th minute strike from Addicks forward Alex Varney that signalled a fourth successive defeat and made it two losses in the space of three days following Friday's 2-0 reverse at Ipswich Town.
"It was a major blow, because we had a young and experienced side out who had fought so hard and even created a few chances in the second half," said Kevin. "To lose it that way right at the end was very disappointing.
"It was a tough game, especially in the first half, when we were second best. Stephen Bywater made some very good saves, we had a little bit of luck, and there was also some good defending.
"In the second half, we expressed ourselves a little bit more and posed a greater attacking threat. Kyel Reid had a good chance, Hogan Ephraim had a couple, but we just didn't get the break in front of goal and that's how it has been going for us recently.
"We played extremely well at Norwich and lost 2-1, we battled hard and put a lot of effort in at Ipswich on Friday and lost 2-0, and it was a similar story last night - we deserved more than we got.
"It's a good learning experience for the youngsters, though. I'm sure playing against those senior players will stand them in good stead."