West Ham United U18s will make the short trip to north London this Saturday where they face Tottenham Hotspur in Enfield.
The Hammers have had two weeks since their last fixture and begin the start of a busy week with a U18 Premier League South match against one of their closest rivals for the top four.
Steve Potts’ team are 2nd in the table and are in prime position to finish in the top four, meaning they will play in the top division once the original league table splits at the end of February.
With Spurs lying in fifth, it could be a significant match in the battle for those places and assistant manager Mark Phillips feels the team will look forward to the challenge.
“It will be a good challenge on Saturday. The team are full of confidence and are looking forward to the match,” he said.
“I suppose the game has extra significance because it’ll be nice to have a cushion over them.
“We’re aspiring to finish in the top four come the end of February so to open up a bigger gap over Spurs would be nice.”
The Hammers’ last match was a 1-1 draw with Arsenal two weeks ago, which saw their lead at the top of the table relinquished.
Malyk Hamilton scored a late equaliser after Eddie Nketiah had put the Gunners ahead just before half-time.
Despite the draw, the Hammers probably deserved the three points after a commanding second half display which also saw Jake Eggleton rattle the crossbar with a thunderous volley.
After returning to league action on Saturday against Spurs, they face a swift turnaround before travelling to Stoke on Tuesday night for their 3rd round FA Youth Cup tie at the bet365 Stadium.
“Maybe it would be good to have tomorrow (Saturday) off but sometimes it can work against you. If we are nice and confident against Spurs we can continue in that vein against Stoke,” Phillips added.
“At the end of the day we’re developing players. The first team play at the weekend and then in midweek a lot of the time so it’s good for the young players to experience it.”
Kick-off is at 11am on Saturday for the U18 Premier League South fixture with Tottenham Hotspur.