Ben Johnson is looking for revenge when his West Ham United U23 side take on Chelsea at Aldershot Town on Friday evening.
The Hammers were beaten 2-1 by their London rivals earlier this campaign when a Joe Powell penalty was sandwiched between two Blues strikes.
But Johnson is hoping the experience of facing Chelsea already this term will stand West Ham in good stead heading into the reverse fixture.
He said: “We’ve played them already this season, so of course that helps us in terms of preparation for the game. Their team will be similar to that first fixture and we dominated that game for large periods.
“We should have come away with at least a point in that one so we need to make sure we do better this time around.
“It was a good win over Blackburn for us a couple of weeks ago in our last match and it’s a big confidence boost ahead of this match. We are slowly getting back to our best form.
We’ve played them already this season, so of course that helps us in terms of preparation for the game.
Ben Johnson
“It’s good to have had a little break to work on our game since then and it’s given us a solid training block ahead of the upcoming games before Christmas. We want to really understand our opposition and know what challenge they pose and I hope we can do that against Chelsea.”
Johnson and Reece Oxford are the only players to have so far turned out in every Premier League 2 match for the Hammers this campaign, playing in all eleven in the league.
Johnson is pleased with the ever-present record but wants to continue to improve as the season goes on.
“We’ve both played all our games, which is a pretty good record to have at this stage and I want to carry that on until Christmas,” he continued. “This season is the first time I’ve ever played with Reece [Oxford].
“He’s a good guy and a player with more experience than all the lads in our team, so he’s someone we can learn off.
“I think personally I’ve had an okay start to the season; my performances have fluctuated. But now I finally feel I am finding consistency and the negatives this season have put me in good stead for the remainder of the season which I’m looking forward to.”