A number of West Ham United's aspiring youngsters have benefitted greatly from training with Gianfranco Zola's first-team squad in recent weeks.
Assistant Academy Director Paul Hilton believes the likes of England Under-17 striker Robert Hall, Republic of Ireland youth international Eoin Wearen and second-year scholar Conor Okus would have learned a great deal from working alongside the club's established internationals.
The trio, along with fellow scholars Georg Grasser and Cristian Montano, were also involved in the first-team pre-season friendly victory at Grays Athletic on 12 July, giving them the opportunity to see close-up how the likes of Herita Ilunga, Kieron Dyer and Daniel Gabbidon prepare for a match.
Hall, Wearen and Okus trained under the watchful eye of Zola and his coaches for a week before the first-team squad travelled to Austria for a ten-day training camp. Midfielders Grasser and Ollie Lee and forward Anthony Edgar were all invited to join Zola and his players as they worked on improving their fitness ahead of the new Barclays Premier League season.
Hilton now expects his charges to pass on their experiences to the younger members of the Academy.
"A few of the lads have been training with the first-team in pre-season and it has given them a little insight into where they need to be and how much work they need to do to reach that level," said Hilton.
"The first-team staff were brilliant with them, allowing them to train with the squad and showing them the levels they need to attain if they are to become members of that squad themselves.
"Hopefully the lads will have taken that all on board and will pass on what they have learned to the younger boys at the Academy. They have been setting the tone in training since their return and that is encouraging."
Hilton, who played 79 first-team games for the Hammers between 1984 and 1989, now assists Academy Director Tony Carr in helping to develop young players between the Under-14 and Under-18 age-groups.