George Earthy was delighted to be back on the football pitch as West Ham United U21s booked their place in the last eight of the Premier League 2 Play-Offs.
The midfielder, who has been absent from action since he was stretched off on his Premier League debut against Fulham last month, scored in a 4-1 win over Blackburn on his return on Friday evening, before being named in the senior matchday squad away to Chelsea on Sunday.
Having followed FA and Premier League concussion guidelines ahead of his comeback, Earthy was pleased to be on the scoresheet at Rush Green Stadium, notching West Ham's third goal on a superb night.
The 19-year-old, who penned his latest professional deal at the start of the season, thanked the staff in east London for their support in making his recovery as easy as possible.
Now, he says, the focus is on pushing on as the PL2 Play-Offs heat up across May...
It’s been a bit difficult [being absent for a few weeks].
It's not easy being out in those circumstances but all the medical staff have been brilliant and made it a lot easier than it could have been. It’s good to be back out there. You want to be as sharp as you were before, so that is what I am aiming to get back to in training and games. I’m happy to score again and get the win against Blackburn too.
I think it was comfortable at times for us on Friday.
We like to play with the ball and I thought we played quite well in terms of moving it around. We went 3-0 up and then they got a goal back, which made it a little bit nervy, and allowed them to get back into the game, so it was important to get the fourth. I think we need to be better next time and kill the game earlier. But apart from that, I thought it was a really good performance from us and we're pleased to reach the next round.
Our U21s put four past Blackburn last night to book their #PL2 Play-Off quarter-final spot 👏
— West Ham United (@WestHam) May 4, 2024
Blackburn were quite defensive in the first half, so it was quite hard to break them down.
Sean [Moore’s] goal at the end of the first half forced them to come out a little bit more in the second half and as soon as we scored the first goal, they had to push forward.
That’s what this team is all about [attacking, free-flowing football].
We’re comfortable with the ball and in possession and you can see what happens when it finally clicks. We got into a lot of good positions against Blackburn, but the final ball wasn’t what we wanted or needed in the first half, but for the goals in the second half, it was all perfect.
This group of boys have got a lot of experience when it comes to these sorts of knockout and cup competition situations.
A lot of us won the FA Youth Cup last year, so it is situations like this, where it is a knockout or one-off game, that we come into our own. We know how to do it, and hopefully it's more of the same in this Play-Off competition.
