Alex Dyer was pleased with his reserve side's much-improved performance in the second half of Monday night's 2-1 defeat at Birmingham City.
The vastly more experienced home side dominated much of the play in the opening 45 minutes and went in at the interval two goals to the good thanks to strikes from Jake Jervis and Damien Johnson. West Ham were a far greater threat in the second period, however, and got back into the match through a penalty that Frank Nouble won and converted. However, the visitors could not quite find an equaliser as they tasted defeat for the first time in three matches.
"In the second half they played more as a team and played more for one another," Dyer said. "Frank got a goal back from a penalty that he won himself. I thought that once we got the goal we could have had a result but it wasn't to be.
"I was pleased with the second half performance as we worked hard and showed that we learnt a little bit from the first half."
Dyer, whose side had gone into the game on a the back of a 5-2 victory over Stoke City last week, attributes the turnaround to some open discussions in the dressing room at half-time.
"We went in and ironed over a few things and they responded, which was pleasing. They listened to what we had to say and took it on board.
"The performance second half was a lot better but they had given themselves a mountain to climb as Birmingham are an experienced side. They had a few senior boys who knew what they were doing and had played the game a long time.
"But for us it was a good learning curve as we played well against Stoke and if they want to go on to that next level that we always talk about, consistency is the key."