West Ham United youngster Conor Coventry believes the more influential midfield role he has settled into within the U23 side this season will see him develop as a player as the season progresses.
The teenager – who returned to east London on Wednesday after spending the international break with the Republic of Ireland’s U19s – has played all-but half an hour of the Hammers’ campaign so far and is enjoying the greater responsibility which has been expected of him.
Dictating the tempo of his side’s matches, he has played a pivotal role so far as the 23s have collected six points from their opening four matches and is looking forward to getting back to domestic action when his team face Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Friday evening.
Ahead of the Premier League 2 clash, he said: “It feels really good to be so heavily involved this season – that was always the aim when it started. I played a lot of U23 games last year but this season, I wanted to be one of the first names on the teamsheet.
“Hopefully now, I can stay fit and keep that going as the year goes on. I want to keep becoming more and more influential as the season goes on so hopefully with the way I have started, I can keep doing that.
“I joined back up with the squad on Wednesday and we were already putting plans for Brighton together. We’ve been discussing the way we will play and training was at a really high tempo on Wednesday, so I think everyone can’t wait to get back on the pitch.”
I want to keep becoming more and more influential as the season goes on. I want to be one of the first names on the teamsheet
Conor Coventry
The teenager thinks, however, the team will have gained plenty of confidence from the two matches, heading into next month’s European qualifiers against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Faroe Islands and the Netherlands.
“The break was really good,” he explained. “It’s always great to get back to playing and joining up with the boys and I really enjoyed pulling on the green shirt again.
“We played really well against Wales and we can definitely go into the qualifiers with huge belief that we can get the results we need in those games.”
Coventry’s West Ham, who were 1-0 winners in their last PL2 outing at Liverpool, return to the pitch on Friday night to face their south coast opponents who also have six points in Division One.
“It was good to get that win over Liverpool,” Coventry continued, “as it’s a really hard place to go and get a result. They are such a talented team so to get all three points really lifts the confidence after a couple of tough matches before.
“It is always good to play at a club’s main stadium, so we’re looking forward to the trip to a Premier League ground and I think the whole squad will be really up for the game.”