U18s head for Cardiff City

Nick Haycock will blood an inexperienced West Ham United Under-18 side when the Hammers take on Cardiff City in Wales on Saturday.

Schoolboys Kieran Sadlier, Amos Nasha and Nana Boakye-Yiadom will all start for West Ham in their inter-group FA Premier Academy League fixture, while U15 centre-back Manny Onnariasi will be on the substitutes' bench.

U18s coach Haycock said while the Hammers are still aiming to win the Group A title this season - they sit four points behind leaders Arsenal with four games to play - the long-term plan is to prepare players for the next step in their development.

"Travelling to Wales and staying overnight before the game will be good experience for them and show them how they would prepare for a game if and when they are first-team players," said Haycock.

"I have been speaking to Ian Hendon regularly and we will be trying to get the players ready for the next stage. This would mean this season's second-year scholars training and playing with the Development Squad and the first-years and Under-16s playing for the youth team.

"With that in mind, we will have three Under-16s starting the game on Saturday and one Under-15 on the bench in Manny Onnariasi. To give the squad some experience, second-years Matthias Fanimo, Blair Turgott and Jack Powell will also be involved.

"We are trying to give younger players the opportunity to play for points, which they do not do at Under-16 level, while also preparing the second-years to hit the ground running in the Development Squad next season."

Cardiff start the weekend sixth in the Group B table, while West Ham are fourth in Group A.

Saturday's game will take place at Cardiff City Stadium, Leckwith Road, Cardiff, with kick-off at 11am.