It has been an impressive few weeks for Lewis Orford, who now has his eyes firmly set on Tuesday evening’s Premier League International Cup semi-final against PSV Eindhoven.
The young Hammer more than made his mark as part of England U18s' Pinatar Cup win in March, featuring across three fixtures as the young Three Lions beat Czechia, the Netherlands and Germany.
In that time, Orford’s minutes grew too – after starting the first match as a substitute, he made the starting XI for the final two fixtures, the latter of which he played the full 90 minutes.
Playing alongside Academy teammate Finlay Herrick, who starred in England’s penalty shootout win over Germany, Orford returned to help West Ham United U21s steal all three points in a five-goal thriller against Derby County last Friday. He has also travelled with the first-team squad for recent fixtures in the UEFA Europa League too.
Though it has been a positive start to 2024, there can't be any let-up from the young Hammers, as Orford expects a stern test at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
He remains confident and believes he and his U21s teammates can reach the competition's final for the first time in West Ham's history, as he sat down to chat through his recent endeavours for Club and country earlier this week...
It was a really good week or so away with England U18s.
I played in all the games, which was good, and got a lot of minutes. It was good to be away with one of my West Ham mates in Finlay Herrick too. We got some really good results out there against some top opposition, and obviously it’s nice to win the trophy as well.
I started the first game on the bench, but then I started the next two games with England.
I thought my performances made the gaffer aware that I deserved to start those matches, and all the feedback I got was positive, but it is about coming back to West Ham now and cracking on with the rest of the season.
We all know PSV will be a tough game.
Last year our match with them was a really tough one. Hopefully, this year we can do a lot better as a team. It will be another big challenge for all of us to see the level of players from one of the top Academy sides in Europe.
We have done well in the Premier League International Cup so far, but we are not taking anything for granted.
We have had a couple of really tough fixtures against Valencia and Lyon, and the game against Brighton was a difficult one we had to get through as well.
I think PSV will be the most difficult opposition we have played in this competition.
We will have to be on top of our game, and I am sure if we are then we can get a good result and reach the final.
Last year, we played in two or three finals with the U18s which is where you want to be at this time of the season.
Hopefully, this year we can do something similar for the U21s. We want to finish the league strong and then do well in the Premier League 2 Play-Offs. Our focus right now is on getting the win on Tuesday which gives us a chance at winning this competition!
