Pierre Ekwah is relishing the prospect of kicking-off a busy October against the early Premier League 2 pace-setters, Crystal Palace, this weekend.
West Ham United U21s welcome the Eagles to Rush Green Stadium on Saturday afternoon with the Irons on the hunt for a first league win of the campaign.
A slow start to the 2022/23 season can largely be attributed to a vastly different squad at Mark Robson’s disposal in the development team, with no fewer than eight players from last year’s U18s stepping up to the U21s.
Ekwah is enjoying working with the new additions to the U21s and is full of praise for how each of them has taken to the demands of development level football.
“We’ve had a difficult start to the season but quite a few players from last season have either moved on, or gone out on loan, and we’ve got a lot of youngsters coming through,” the Frenchman explained. “We’re trying to mix those U18s from last season into this group and that takes a bit of time.
“The young lads are doing really great. What is simultaneously good and hard for them is to learn how to work under a new coach. Mark Robson is a really good coach and he’s helping all of us to reach the next level, including those younger players.
“They are all training and playing very well. We just need to get to a place where everyone understands each other and we’re in sync.”
Ekwah has been one of the U21s stand-out performers in the early weeks of the campaign, netting three goals in Premier League 2 action.
The fine form is a continuation of the 20-year-old’s efforts last season, but Ekwah is just eager to help the young team find its feet in Division 1.
“I’m not trying to be any sort of main player. I just want to help the team win. If I have to make a tackle, or score a goal, to do that, then that’s what I want to do.
“I’ve obviously been in this team since last year but the younger lads could look to any of the more experienced players for guidance. We had a great team last season and the players from last year’s U18s could come to any of us for help or advice. All of us want to help the younger lads in every game.
“I just want to play well for the team, score goals, and within that go to where I want to go. First thing I want to do is help this team, and then I have my goal of getting into the first team as well.”
Up next for the Hammers is a tricky test against table-toppers Palace, and Ekwah is relishing the challenge of facing an Eagles side filled with confidence.
He continued: “Palace have started the season well. It will be a very tough test. They’ve got some very good players in every position.
“I think, when you’re young, you like to play against good players and good opposition. I think Palace have got a couple of the best players in our league at the moment so it will give us an idea of where we are at. It’ll be a hard game.
“Last season we were going to other teams and we were in a good position, so we had a bit of confidence about our play. We would go into those games trying to show what we were about in the first 15-20 minutes, and then the match would be on how the other team would respond.
“We have confidence in ourselves going into this game. We know what we are capable of individually and as a team, and we need to put that into action against Palace.”
Saturday’s contest at Rush Green will be the first of eight matches in October for the U21s across three competitions, and Ekwah is excited for the prospect of playing so many games in the coming weeks.
The midfielder noted that the senior side have been following a similar schedule since playing in Europe last season and every young player who wants to feature at such a level needs to be comfortable doing the same.
“The best teams and the best players need to be able to play every three days,” Ekwah added. “When you look at last season, you can see how well the first team did with the pressure of the UEFA Europa League on top of the other competitions. As a youngster, you want to be in that team, playing every weekend and every mid-week fixture.
“It was a spirit and a mentality that took the team so far, and I love that feeling. Playing is what we want to do and we’ve got a fixture schedule in October that is going to mirror that. I’m very excited for it.”
