West Ham United’s Sam Westley said the Development Squad can take a lot of confidence from their performance against Manchester United on Tuesday night.
Despite losing 3-2, the Hammers put in an impressive display and were unlucky to come away from the match with no points to show for their efforts.
Speaking after the game, Westley said: “It was a very good performance, we’re disappointed to lose really. The first twenty minutes I don’t think they created anything. We did well to score on the counter attack, overall it was a good performance.
“All week we’ve been focusing on work rate, and a high press and really getting into them. I thought we did that really well. Defensively, I thought we were very solid.”
The win sees Manchester United go top of the Barclays U21 Premier League who named a strong side including the likes of James Wilson, Adnan Januzaj and Rafael da Silva.
Speaking about the experience of playing against established Premier League players, Westley continued: “I thought they were a very good side, it was a great experience to play against first team players.
“At the end of the day, that’s the level we are all trying to get at. It was a good experience and a great challenge.”
Up next for the Dev Squad is a tough match with Norwich City on Friday 17 April at Rush Green.
Earlier in the season the Canaries secured a 1-0 win, however Westley insisted his side would approach the game with confidence.
“Tonight’s performance will give us a lot of confidence for our next match against Norwich City, we need to pick up some points. Even though we lost we can be proud of the performance.”
Despite losing 3-2, the Hammers put in an impressive display and were unlucky to come away from the match with no points to show for their efforts.
Speaking after the game, Westley said: “It was a very good performance, we’re disappointed to lose really. The first twenty minutes I don’t think they created anything. We did well to score on the counter attack, overall it was a good performance.
“All week we’ve been focusing on work rate, and a high press and really getting into them. I thought we did that really well. Defensively, I thought we were very solid.”
The win sees Manchester United go top of the Barclays U21 Premier League who named a strong side including the likes of James Wilson, Adnan Januzaj and Rafael da Silva.
Speaking about the experience of playing against established Premier League players, Westley continued: “I thought they were a very good side, it was a great experience to play against first team players.
“At the end of the day, that’s the level we are all trying to get at. It was a good experience and a great challenge.”
Up next for the Dev Squad is a tough match with Norwich City on Friday 17 April at Rush Green.
Earlier in the season the Canaries secured a 1-0 win, however Westley insisted his side would approach the game with confidence.
“Tonight’s performance will give us a lot of confidence for our next match against Norwich City, we need to pick up some points. Even though we lost we can be proud of the performance.”