Kevin Keen was full of praise after his West Ham United reserves fought out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Arsenal last night.
Goals by Jordan Spence and Tony Stokes cancelled out strikes by Arsenal's Nacer Barazite and Mark Randall at the Boleyn Ground, as twice the home side came from behind to ensure the honours were shared in the London derby. WHUTV will have full highlights of the game later today, along with exclusive reaction to come from Stokes and captain Jack Collison.
"It was a wonderful game that saw two good young teams play some super football out there, put in good tackling and we watched a match with real appetite about it, said a satisfied Keen. "A draw was a fair result, we could have won it, they could have won it, but I am very pleased at the way my lads come back from one-nil down and again at 2-1 to get the point."
Keen said his mainly young side - which included the valuable experience of first-teamers Nigel Quashie and Jimmy Walker - are getting better with each game they play. "Within the reserve squad, we have a team of 19 and 20-year-olds who are really starting to grow in belief and confidence, which gives us something to really build on now and go for it.
"Equally it was good to have some of our senior players come through for us again. Nigel Quashie got another game under his belt, which is important and I took him off just before the end to make sure he was all right as I did with Kyel (Reid), who once again had another excellent match.
"It was good for Jimmy to get a game and he was also very instrumental in helping and guiding the young lads throughout the match," Keen added. In front of Walker, was the pairing of Spence and James Tomkins, who put in a solid 90 minutes between them as well as Spence getting on the scoresheet for West Ham's first goal.
"James Tomkins was outstanding and led the line with what was a very young back four really well, I thought," said Keen. "Jordan also showed how much he is coming on, he had to cope with a couple of difficult challenges, one of which led to their first goal, but got on with it and then went up the other end to score."
Stokes got the second equaliser and Keen said his volleyed strike was typical of the midfielder, whom he had decided to start on the bench. "It was one of those days, I decided to put Stokesy on the bench and give Lee Hales, who had come on in our previous match at Fulham and done well, an opportunity to do more of the same. Being the young professional he is, Stokesy reacted in the proper way, went on and scored a great goal, perhaps could have had another, but certainly did himself proud."
It was the second point West Ham United have picked up in a fortnight, following the 1-1 draw at west London side Fulham. Before that they had grabbed all three against another capital club, with a 1-0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur - meaning the side are unbeaten in three fixtures.
Keen is naturally delighted at doing well against traditional rivals and with the overall consistency that has found its way into his side this season, who he says are hungry to try and win every match. "I am pleased overall with how we are doing this season, we have lost two, won two and drawn three now. You could say the results don't really matter at this level, but they do, because the lads and myself, we want to win, we want to be up at the top end of the table.
"The team can change from match to match depending on the personnel you have available. But for players like Jack Collison, Joe Widdowson, JJ (Jack Jeffrey), James Tomkins and Zavon Hines, who are all pretty much playing week in, week out, they all want to get the three points every time they go out there. There is a nice consistency in performances and I believe that goes back to last season, admitted Keen.
"Last year we were perhaps a bit young in the reserves, this season, several of those lads have had lots more games, got another year older, a bit stronger, both mentally and physically. We did struggle at times last year but I think now the lads are benefiting from that experience. It was a tough game out there, Arsenal were full of quality, but we showed what we are about and that we have some real quality coming through too."