Freddie Potts says West Ham United U21s are showing improvements across the entire team after adding goals to good performances in the last two games.
The young Hammers claimed a 2-1 comeback win at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday evening to end their 2022/23 Papa Johns Trophy campaign with an excellent victory, although the development side would exit the competition due to goal difference.
Despite going out of the tournament, midfielder Potts feels the squad can take heart from their fighting efforts throughout the last few matches, particularly after finding goalscoring form against the Robins and Blackburn Rovers.
“There was a completely mixed mood with the squad after the Cheltenham game.” Potts said. “We know we fought hard and got the three points that we wanted, but we’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t get through.
“The performance was really good though and I think we’re starting to really find our form. We’re just gutted that we didn’t get through because this was a tournament we wanted to do well in.
“We’ve been working on our play in the final third in training. We’ve been playing well for a few weeks now but it’s just been the final ball we’ve been missing out on. We’re showing that we’re improving as a team though and our product in the final third has been better. We’re getting the goals that we need and we’re putting points on the board.”
The 19-year-old netted West Ham’s winner at The Completely-Suzuki Stadium with a cool strike just after half-time, after Will Greenidge had levelled the game for Mark Robson’s side.
“The goal was a bit of instinct really,” Potts continued. “When the ball came to me I knew I would need to get it out from under my feet quickly on the edge of the box, and try to find the corner, and that’s what I was able to do. It was something that fell to me and I’m lucky that it went in.
“I’ve been trying to add more goals to my game. It was a target I set myself at the start of the season, to get more goal involvements overall. The further up the pitch I can get, the more chances I’ll have which means more opportunities to score goals. That’s what I want to do.”
As the Hammers prepare for a return to Premier League 2 football at the weekend, against Brighton & Hove Albion, Potts says the side are feeling confident in their own abilities and have every belief they can take another three points.
“We’ve been thriving in our opportunities against first team sides this season. We got the win against Walsall, played well against MK Dons and then did well against Cheltenham Town too. It shows we can play against good sides at this level and I feel like we were the better team. It just shows that we have boys here who aren’t shy of confidence when playing against men.
“Brighton will be a tough game. They are always tough opponent, but we’re all in form and we’re all confident of what we can do. We’re playing well as a team and the results are starting to come, so we’re confident we can come away with three points again on Saturday.”
