Callum McNaughton is determined to help West Ham United reserves finish the season on a high note - starting with the visit of Manchester United on Friday afternoon.
A 4-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday put a dent in West Ham's chances of winning the Southern Group title - they sit four points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in-hand on the Gunners - but the Hammers are eager to bounce back.
Three of the Hammers' final four league matches in the Barclays Premier Reserve League are at home and first up in that run comes when the Red Devils arrive at Bishop's Stortford.
"It's a good thing in football that you always have the chance to put things right, whether you've had a bad day in training or games," McNaughton said. "Luckily we have another game this week and it's against Manchester United, so what better way to get back on a good run than to win against them?
"It'll be the first time I've played against them. I was a first-year scholar when the youth team played against them and I didn't play. Manchester United are a big name, but you've got to treat it as just another game and hopefully I'll be playing in it."
Meanwhile, the centre-back offered no excuses for West Ham United's 4-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
The Hammers left London before dawn for the long trip to the north west, while manager Steve Lomas was able to call upon just two players with first-team experience in Matt Fry and Anthony Edgar.
West Ham fell two goals down within the opening ten minutes, the first a Paul McCallum own-goal, before losing the in-form Cristian Montano - scorer of four goals in his previous five appearances - to a hamstring injury shortly before half-time.
Although Edgar halved the deficit midway through the second half, Blackburn netted two late goals and Fry was forced off with a groin problem to add injury to insult in the closing stages. Skipper McNaughton admitted it had just not been the Hammers' afternoon as they saw a five-match unbeaten run end.
"It was a disappointing day. It was another early start, but that's no excuse because we've had other early starts for other games and got good results.
"We didn't start as well as we normally do and it took us a while to get going. We conceded two early goals which were unfortunate, but that happens so we had to fight back. We showed some promising play and our short passing created some chances and got in behind them a little bit, but overall it wasn't the best day for us.
"It's hard at this level when you fall behind, but you can't stop. You've got to keep plugging away and I felt like we did that. We never gave up. It was just one of those days when things just didn't seem to come off for us. You could tell that the boys were working hard, but things weren't going our way."
"As a team, we did look solid at times. They were just little lapses that happen in every game but in this game they got punished. It was unfortunate and the final score didn't really tell the story of how the game was played
"There wasn't much in it - just little moments that made the final score-line look different and more one-sided than how the game was."
As captain, McNaughton rallied his team-mates in the second half, sparking a revival that saw Edgar score from the penalty spot and substitute Elliot Lee make a lively reserve-team debut.
For a while, it looked as if West Ham could grab an unlikely point, and the 19-year-old centre-back was proud of the spirit shown by a young West Ham side.
"We've been down behind - we went 2-1 down at Blackpool last week and came fighting back - and the lads certainly never gave up, but it was one of those days.
"Every game is going to be different and have different circumstances and you have to adapt. It was just one of those days when nothing went our way."