West Ham United U18s assistant manager Mark Phillips is expecting his team to bounce back from their 4-3 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur when they host West Bromwich Albion this Saturday at Little Heath.
The goal glut began at Tottenham as the hosts started the second half quickly and scored through Joe Pritchard's sharp finish.
Despite left-back Oscar Borg scoring two superb free kicks and Jerry Amoo's headed finish from a corner, Tottenham proved to be too strong as strikes from Anton Walkes, Ismail Azzaoui and Anthony Georgio sealed the victory.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's game, Phillips said: "If it's anything like when we played them away, on the first game of the season, I expect a tough physical encounter. Most of their players tend to be U18 second year players, so they're big and strong."
The Hammers kicked off their league campaign against Albion with a 3-1 away win with goals from Djair Parfitt-Williams, Grady Diangana and Manny Onariase.
After losing their last two games narrowly, Phillips is hoping the team can do the double to keep their title chances alive.
"Overall this season we've done well. We've lost the last two games but they've been very close games which could have gone either way. Also we've had several players going into the 21s and even the first team which is what it's all about.
"Sam Howes did well against Millwall, he made some good saves when he was called upon. Another youngster Josh Pask was one of the best players on the pitch I thought. Manny did well too. Then you've got Reece Oxford, still only an U16, and Alex Pike making his U21 debut recently. Everyone who has gone up an age level has done well which is excellent to see."
The Hammers will be boosted by the news that top goalscorer Jordan Brown could return to action after several weeks out through injury.
"Jordan Brown is in contention to be back after several weeks out injured. Brown can probably play a half, it depends how he feels and what the physio says. He's been back in training recently and been running well which is obviously a good sign."
West Ham United U18s play West Bromwich Albion this Saturday at Little Heath. Kick off is at 12pm.