Cullen confident ahead of cup clash

The all-action midfielder is aiming to make it ten games unbeaten on Wednesday evening
Ahead of the Development Squad’s quarter-final with Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday 27 January, Josh Cullen said their nine games unbeaten run has left them full of confidence.

Cullen fired the young Hammers to their latest win, a 3-1 victory away at Fulham, as he coolly slotted home a penalty which saw the Dev Squad recover from a goal down.

Having won eight of those last nine matches, Cullen believes the Hammers have what it takes to progress into the semi-finals: “All the lads really believe we can go on and win it. We have to treat tomorrow like any other game and keep going.

“It’s always nice to have a cup run, we’re in the quarters now and everyone wants to keep our run going. If we get the win tomorrow we’ll be unbeaten in ten. Hopefully we can get the job done and go through into the semis.”

The 19-year-old has been in superb form for the Dev Squad throughout the season, and his impressive performances have been rewarded with multiple appearances on the first team bench.

The talismanic Hammer has recently added more of a goal threat to his game, and this season has four strikes to his name.

Cullen continued: “Getting more goals is something I’ve been trying to do for a while now. It’s an important trait, it’s something I’ve been working on over the last few seasons and it’s nice to see it pay off.

“I’ve just got to keep on getting in those dangerous positions and hopefully I can keep on scoring more goals.”

Having made his first team debut in the Europa League before making his Premier League bow in the historic 3-0 win an Anfield this term has proven to be a season of milestones for the avid Hammer.

And another personal highlight would be securing his first piece of silverware in a claret and blue shirt.
Cullen explained: “I’ve never won a cup in my time at West Ham, this is the furthest I’ve gone.

“Everyone knows we have a slow start to the season, we didn’t win in the first seven games but from then, we’ve kicked on and moved up the table. That’s been down to our sheer hard work, we’ve always known that we have the quality to go out and win every game, it’s down to our hard work.”

Despite losing to the Rovers once earlier this season, a pulsating game which ended 4-3 at Ewood Park, Cullen insisted the result would bear little significance tomorrow night.  

“Even though we lost at their place, we played well that night; our performance was good so we won’t take too much notice of the result.

“We can go out with confidence knowing we can win, that’s what we did in the first half at Ewood Park, we need to make sure we can do it over the full 90 minutes. We’re all looking forward to the game.”

The Development Squad host Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday 27 January, Rush Green Stadium, 7pm. Admission is FREE for all fans.