West Ham United Under-18s captain Josh Payne is determined to build on his solid start to his season after skippering the youths to an unbeaten run in their fist four four matches and starting in the reserves' first match.
Payne has led the youngsters to some impressive opening results including draws against Manchester United, Leeds United and Reading and then, most recently, an emphatic 3-0 win over Aston Villa. Despite the promising beginning he feels his side should have done better. "It was more of a technical game against Manchester United; we should have won at Leeds but we conceded a couple of sloppy goals and I feel we should have beaten Reading," Payne said.
Just two days after the youths' win against Villa on Saturday, Payne was selected for the reserve team's opening fixture of the FA Premier Reserve League South at Chelsea. That game ended in a 2-0 defeat and the hectic schedule does not bother the 17-year-old as he 'just loves playing football.' He said: "It's tough to play two games in three days. You could tell I was getting tired towards the end and there were a few stray passes which Kevin [Keen] noticed so he brought on fresh legs with Ollie [Lee]. But I'll always play as I love playing football."
During the reserve defeat, the Blues proved stronger but Payne believes it will have been a valuable experience for the youthful visiting side. He said: "It's always going to be tough against a good team like Chelsea and they had a couple of older players out there and we had quite a few young players. I thought we pressed well and we held out but they scored two good goals and then it was just about working hard to stop them scoring again."
Payne is hoping to eventually follow James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Kyel Reid, Freddie Sears and of course Mark Noble in progressing from the Academy through to the first team. For now though he is enjoying leading the Under-18s and is hoping to cement his place in the reserves. He said: "I used to always look up to Jordan [Spence] as captain last year and I always wanted to be captain so it's nice to get the armband. I'm also looking to get a few more reserve games under my belt this season."
Like many players at his age Payne is still testing himself in several different positions. Having been used as a centre-half for the Under-18s last season he is now playing in a central-midfield role for the reserves. He said: "I played centre back last year but I prefer playing centre midfield as you see more of the ball and you can show what you're about."