Defender Tunji Akinola is relishing the tests being provided to the U23s so far as the Hammers youngsters prepare for their second pre-season match.
Terry Westley's group were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Sky Bet League Two side Barnet on Saturday and come up against the Bees' league counterparts Colchester United on Tuesday evening (7.45pm kick-off).
After a long summer break, Akinola is enjoying being thrown in the deep end as he prepares to compete in four different competitions - Premier League 2, Premier International Cup, Premier League Cup and Checkatrade Trophy - with the U23 this season.
"It was a long time off but obviously we needed the break," Akinola admitted. "I'm very happy to be back and we can start getting our fitness back.
"It was a nice time off. I spent time with family and friends and just chilled with them but obviously I missed playing so that makes me very keen to be back.
"They [Barnet] are a League Two team and they had lots of experienced players. At the end of the day, we're going to be up against those sorts of test when we move up to mens football. It was good to see how our guys responded to that and I think we did very well."
I think Colchester will be a lot tougher than Barnet because they finished higher last season but it's the kind of test we want and hopefully we can do well.
Tunji Akinola
Akinola played a key role as the U23s clinched promotion to Premier League 2 Division 1 last season and he is targeting more improvements this year.
"I think my focus at the minute is trying to play every week for the U23s and get lots of minutes under my belt," he continued. "Then after Christmas, depending on how I've done, I can look to go out on loan. We'll see what happens."
The U23 have two more pre-season friendlies before jetting off to Slovakia on Sunday for a training camp. Dagenham and Redbridge await on Sunday, but before that Akinola and co face arguably their toughest assignment in Colchester.
The Us missed out on the League Two play-offs by the smallest of margins last season and Akinola is looking forward to another difficult test.
"I think Colchester will be a lot tougher than Barnet because they finished higher last season but it's the kind of test we want and hopefully we can do well."