Tony Carr was delighted to see his Under-18 side begin 2009 in style by beating Southampton 4-1 at Little Heath on Saturday, but believes there is still more to come from the team in coming weeks.
The West Ham United academy director watched on as goals from Christian Montano and Daniel Kearns sent the home side in 2-1 up at half-time. A further strike from Montano and one from Conor Okus set the Hammers on the way to a comfortable win.
Carr was delighted with how his side responded after four weeks without a game. He said: "It's a great way to start the New Year. We were eagerly awaiting a game as the friendly game we had on last week was cancelled because of the frost. It was important to hit the ground running which we have done and I'm pleased."
After the successful start, the thoughts of some of the youngsters will now turn to Tuesday's reserve team fixture against Fulham, although their involvement may depend on Gianfranco Zola's plans for next weekend's FA Cup fourth round tie against Hartlepool United.
"Looking ahead to the reserve game on Tuesday, it depends on how many senior players the manager wants. That will filter down to us so if it is the same team that they had last week then there won't be that many young ones featuring but if he holds one or two back for the cup game on Saturday that will open the door for one or two of the younger ones."
West Ham United: Loveday, Barrett, McNaughton, Fry, Brown, Kearns, Lee (Grasser 75), Okus, Montano, Edgar (Werndley 80), Abdulla (Subuola 75(
Subs not used: Cowler, Driver