West Ham United U18 midfielder Noha Sylvestre is expecting his team to put in another solid performance this Saturday when the young Hammers travel to the North East to play Sunderland.
Having beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool in their last two games of their Play Off campaign, Sylvestre is hoping to make it a third win on the bounce.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s game with the Black Cats, the Swiss U17 international said: “We’re all looking forward to the match. We’ve started the Play Offs pretty well. We know we can still improve and we just want to finish as high up the table as possible. Having said that, the team performance is more important than the league table.
“Beating Liverpool was a good win for us. They’re always a good side but we played well and deserved the victory.
“My confidence is high after the last two games, so is the team's after winning the last two games.”
Despite normally playing in separate divisions, and therefore rarely playing each other, Sylvestre enjoyed a successful experience in his one and only experience of playing the Mackems.
As the 17-year-old continued to explain: “I’ve played against them once before, we won 1-0 at under 16 level. I think I played well that day, it was a very long journey! I think we’re capable of playing well again on Saturday.
“The distance shouldn’t be a factor because we’re going up on the day before. We should play well.”
Reflecting on an impressive season in claret and blue, Sylvestre has settled in at West Ham remarkably quickly given the fact he left his native Switzerland at such a young age.
Assessing a season in which he has made 22 appearances – the joint-highest alongside fellow playmaker Grady Diangana, Sylvestre summarised: “I think I’ve had a good season. I’ve played a lot of games despite having an injury for a month. I’m looking forward to finishing the season strongly.”
The talented midfielder, who has previously named Xabi Alonso as his role model, nominated teammate Reece Burke as his U18s’ Player of the Year, stating: “I’d have to say Reece Burke. He made his first team debut last weekend against Queens Park Rangers which is obviously a fantastic achievement.”
Having beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool in their last two games of their Play Off campaign, Sylvestre is hoping to make it a third win on the bounce.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s game with the Black Cats, the Swiss U17 international said: “We’re all looking forward to the match. We’ve started the Play Offs pretty well. We know we can still improve and we just want to finish as high up the table as possible. Having said that, the team performance is more important than the league table.
“Beating Liverpool was a good win for us. They’re always a good side but we played well and deserved the victory.
“My confidence is high after the last two games, so is the team's after winning the last two games.”
Despite normally playing in separate divisions, and therefore rarely playing each other, Sylvestre enjoyed a successful experience in his one and only experience of playing the Mackems.
As the 17-year-old continued to explain: “I’ve played against them once before, we won 1-0 at under 16 level. I think I played well that day, it was a very long journey! I think we’re capable of playing well again on Saturday.
“The distance shouldn’t be a factor because we’re going up on the day before. We should play well.”
Reflecting on an impressive season in claret and blue, Sylvestre has settled in at West Ham remarkably quickly given the fact he left his native Switzerland at such a young age.
Assessing a season in which he has made 22 appearances – the joint-highest alongside fellow playmaker Grady Diangana, Sylvestre summarised: “I think I’ve had a good season. I’ve played a lot of games despite having an injury for a month. I’m looking forward to finishing the season strongly.”
The talented midfielder, who has previously named Xabi Alonso as his role model, nominated teammate Reece Burke as his U18s’ Player of the Year, stating: “I’d have to say Reece Burke. He made his first team debut last weekend against Queens Park Rangers which is obviously a fantastic achievement.”