Elliot Lee wants to build on his first team chance when West Ham United return to pre-season in late June.
The striker made his second Barclays Premier League appearance for the Hammers in last Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle and the experience has left him hungry for more.
St James’ Park is a venue that holds special memories for the 20-year-old, with Lee having watched his father Rob in action for the Magpies there, so he was thrilled to follow in his footsteps.
“It was quite an experience for me, and an emotional one too,” he explained. “I grew up watching my dad at Newcastle and the Club posted a picture on their Twitter of me pointing out where I used to sit in a box with the Shearer family.
“I was delighted to get on the pitch and I’d like to give a special mention to Ian Hendon. I’ve worked with him for quite a few years and he was pushing for me this year. I think he had a big hand in why I got on so thank you to him for that, but I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a result.
“Most of my family actually went on holiday to Turkey the day before the game, but I’m sure they watched it out there. My brother and a few of his pals came along though, and I had text messages from some of my old friends up there saying don’t score!
“It was a great experience – I made my debut at Old Trafford and I said then the second best place to come on would be St James’ or Upton Park. It wasn’t a great result for the team but we’ll push on from here and go again next season.”
Lee scored three goals in eleven games on loan at Luton Town before returning to the first team fold with the Hammers and he was happy to learn with the Hatters.
He added: “I went out on loan to toughen me up. I experienced playing men’s football and that helped me this season. I came back and have been involved with the first team squad, so that’s great.
“I want to push on from here. We’ve got the Europa League next year and hopefully I can be involved in that quite a lot.
“It’s important not to get frustrated as a young player because you’re competing with some very good players in the first team, so now I’m going to keep going in training and hopefully come back and really challenge for a first team place.”