Friday date for U18s

West Ham United Under-18s have a Friday FA Premier Academy League engagement with Bristol City.

The home fixture has been moved forward, kicking-off at Little Heath at 12noon, and Academy Director Tony Carr has been full of praise for his side in recent weeks, with the Hammers going into Friday's game on the back of a four-match unbeaten run.

Carr said: "We play Bristol City, who we don't normally come up against, so it is a little bit of a case of going into the unknown, but the boys have been playing well and we go into the game full of confidence."

Central to West Ham's recent success has been the performances of schoolboys Dominic Vose, Robert Hall, Matthias Fanimo (pictured), Blair Turgott and Dylan Tombides, who scored the Hammers' goal in last Saturday's 1-1 draw at unbeaten Leicester City.

West Ham will climb to fourth in the Group A table with a victory over Bristol City, who themselves sit eighth in Group B - but they will have to do so without Vose, Hall and midfielder George Moncur, among others.

Carr will take Vose and Moncur among a joint U16/U17 squad travelling to the Tiffany Cup in Washington DC on Friday morning, leaving deputy Paul Hilton to take the side.

Carr added: "We leave for Washington on Friday, which means the likes of George and Dominic won't be available, while Robert is away with England. I'm sure the side we put out will do a good job, and it provides a chance for some of the fringe players to shine."

Among those expected to feature are Peter Loveday, Jack Lampe, Nicky Barrett and Conor Okus. The quartet will be released at the end of the season and will looking to impress visiting scouts as they seek a new club at which to continue their careers.

While their schoolboy and first-year scholar team-mates will head for the United States, Hall, Fanimo and Turgott will link-up with their respective England squads for forthcoming internationals.

Hall will miss Friday's game, as he is in England's U17 squad for their UEFA U17 Championship Elite Round qualifiers with Sweden, Malta and Slovakia, which begin in Northampton on Saturday. Fanimo and Turgott will head to France early next week for the prestigious Montaigu Tournament, which starts on Wednesday 31 March.

West Ham will definitely be without Republic of Ireland U17 forward Danny Purdy, who suffered a suspected broken metatarsal while on international duty. Leading scorer Cristian Montano has returned to training this week.

Admission and parking at Little Heath are both free.