West Ham United Under-18s are looking to make it three matches unbeaten when Reading are the visitors to Little Heath this Saturday morning.
The Academy side have made a fine start to the new season with a 0-0 home draw against Manchester United followed by a 2-2 scoreline away to Leeds United last weekend. Although frustrated last time out at conceding a late goal that denied his side all three points, Carr reminded that results alone at youth level are not the priority, with more emphasis on the team performance and individual displays.
"We don't judge results how we would a first-team game," said Carr. "It is more to do with what we are doing than winning every game. I would rather play well sometimes than win. I don't mean that in a sense that we don't want to win games, but performance and development of the individual is everything."
Against Leeds, Carr's U18s went behind on 15 minutes, but hit back through Anthony Edgar, who finished well at the near post after cutting in from the left-hand side. The captain Josh Payne then added a second with a low drive from the edge of the area, only to see the home team grab a late, deflected equaliser that gave Marek Stech no chance.
Carr felt the scoreline did not do his team justice and they deserved more than one point. "We are disappointed we did not win the game. It feels like we have lost because we were so dominant," he said. "We were on top in the second half. Anthony Edgar then hit the post, we had a couple of chances cleared off the line and were in total control until we conceded that late equaliser. We played very well. I am very pleased with the performance but disappointed with the result."