U18s shaping up

West Ham United Under-18s will play host to Ipswich Town in a pre-season friendly this Saturday looking to build on an excellent summer's work so far.

Tony Carr's young charges performed impressively in their latest friendly on Wednesday with a 1-0 win away to Reading after a solo strike from Danny Purdy. It came after Nick Barrett had stuck the crossbar with a fine long-range effort and a couple of other good chances for the travelling Hammers.

"We turned in a very good defensive performance, which was pleasing," said Carr, who is just back from a successful coaching camp with talented young American players in Atlanta. "The whole team worked very hard and it put us in good confidence for the game against Ispwich. It was a good work-out. Reading pushed us all the way.

"It has been an excellent pre-season for the Academy. The players have worked very hard and done well in training and in our friendly matches. The new intake and the second years have done very well, and it is a bonus that results have been good. "

Click here to see when the Under-18s begin their league campaign.

West Ham United: Loveday, Smith, Brown, Moncur, Lampe, Driver, Barrett, Wearen, Abdulla, Montano, Subuola
Subs used: Craig, Werndly, Purdy, Hall, Sanchez