Junior Stanislas is well aware that 2009/10 promises to be a major campaign in his bid to establish himself with West Ham United.
The 19-year-old winger capped a start to the season last weekend with a substitute's appearance in the 2-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers having earned his first Under-21 cap with England the previous Tuesday. He is working hard in training to be involved again when Tottenham Hotspur turn up on Sunday.
"I want to keep improving and hopefully I will be involved, whether that is starting a match or coming on [as substitute]," he said. "I had a good start last year and have now been training and playing in the first team for a while and from that, I feel my game is improving every day and getting better.
"It is good for me, you know, the more I play with players like Carlton Cole in a team which has other experienced players like Scotty Parker who I learn a lot from and Mark Noble. Even though Nobes is still young, he has done a lot in the game already.
"I want to keep improving my game and impressing the manager and I am learning all the time."
His confidence will have been done no harm by that positive performance for his country last week, as the England U21's drew 0-0 in the Netherlands.
He was alongside West Ham team-mates James Tomkins and Freddie Sears, on loan at Crystal Palace, and was unlucky not to have scored, testing the opposition keeper twice in the second half with powerful shots.
"It was good. In the first half we didn't have too many chances, they kept the ball well, but the second half, we played a lot better and got into the game and we could have won it. I had chances to score which the keeper saved, but I felt it went alright for me."