Freddie Sears is determined to play his part in firing West Ham United into next season's UEFA Europa League.
The 19-year-old was delighted to play his part in helping the Hammers to nick a deserved Premier League point at Aston Villa on Saturday, forcing Luke Young to concede the corner that led to Diego Tristan's dramatic 85th minute equaliser.
After appearing as a second half substitute in the entertaining 1-1 draw at Villa Park, Sears is eager to make his mark again in the final five games of the campaign.
"Obviously we were pleased to get a draw, but we even had chances to go on and win it at the end. Junior [Stanislas] had a great chance at the start too. I think, overall, a draw was a fair result for us. We pushed hard to get the goal so we were delighted when it came."
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Sears was impressed with the expert finishing of Spaniard Tristan, who swivelled superbly to head Kieron Dyer's shot past Brad Friedel. At the time, however, the England Under-19 man did not realise just how deliberate his striker partner's effort had been.
"I don't know what part of Diego the ball has come off but, at the end of the day, it's gone in and that's all that matters! We got the draw that we needed. The vibe in the dressing room after the game was good. Everyone was buzzing."
A year ago, Sears burst on to the scene after scoring his own late header past American Friedel, diving to nod a dramatic winner in the Hammers' 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at the Boleyn Ground.
This season, the teenager has not scored as many goals as he would have liked, but Sears knows he still has a part to play between now and the end of the season as Gianfranco Zola's team challenge for a top-seven finish and European football.
Sears is one of eight Academy graduates to represent the Hammers this season, Mark Noble, Jack Collison, James Tomkins, Junior Stanislas, Josh Payne, Kyel Reid and Zavon Hines being the other seven, as manager Zola has been forced to shuffle his pack due to injuries and suspensions. All have impressed when handed their chance to shine.
"On a personal note it was good to get on again at Villa, even if it was only for ten minutes. The manager told me to go on and make something happen and I think I did ok. We've got Chelsea next week and I'd love to play against them. We'll see how it goes.
"It's obviously been a bit frustrating not playing as much football as I was used to in the reserves and youth team, and the injuries we have means the youngsters haven't been able to go out on loan. I'm training well and enjoying it here but I obviously want to start playing more and scoring some goals."