West Ham United U23s' performance at Old Trafford on Friday night substantiated their credentials as title challengers, according to defender Reece Hannam.
The Hammers travelled to the world-famous stadium to take on Manchester United U23s and came away with a 2-2 draw, a good result given that both sides had entered the contest with perfect Premier League 2 Division 2 records up to that point.
Indeed, West Ham enjoyed the better of the chances in the second half and had even taken the lead with nine minutes remaining through Anthony Scully, only for Largie Ramazani to salvage a point for the hosts with a minute left on the clock.
Speaking after the pulsating game, which left both sides level on ten points at the top of the table, Hannam told whufc.com that his side's showing at Old Trafford will have sent out a message to their upcoming opponents.
“I think there was plenty to be proud of in our performance tonight,” he said.
“It was an amazing game, to be fair. It was a great opportunity to play at Old Trafford – not everyone gets to do that in their careers – and we should’ve got the win, to be honest.
“We could’ve got three points, and it feels like we’ve missed out on two, but I think we can all take away from it that we’ll definitely challenge for the title this year. We’ve come here tonight and we’ve proven that we can come away with a good result against any big team.”
I hadn't really come across anyone like him [Largie Ramazani] in the past year or so, so it was a really good test for me tonight.
Reece Hannam
18-year-old Hannam made his third consecutive start in the side and impressed throughout, at one point producing a goal-saving tackle to deny Manchester United’s Elanga a tap-in into an empty net.
The left-back was up against an in-form opposite number in Largie Ramazani but, despite the winger scrambling home the late equaliser, Hannam largely shackled him well throughout the game.
Hannam said: “I was facing a really tough opponent in Ramazani. He was really quick, sharp, good feet – I found it hard to deal with at times.
“I hadn’t really come across anyone like him in the past year or so, so it was a really good test for me tonight. It felt like I grew into the game in the second half in particular. I always feel like I go into the second half sharper, but I want to be doing it from the start of the game.”
Next up for the U23s is a trip to Newport County’s Rodney Parade for their first EFL Trophy match of the season.
After his experience against high-quality opposition in Manchester where the team managed to extend their unbeaten run to eleven games under lead coach Dmitri Halajko, Hannam is relishing the prospect of facing another testing fixture away from home.
“Newport will be a great game for us all,” he said. “It’s another great opportunity for us against a first team featuring senior footballers, and to play against a team in the football league.
“After tonight, we go there confident we can get a result against them.”
