Lletget praises Moncur form

Sebastian Lletget heaped praise on teammate George Moncur after the midfielder continued his scoring run against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Moncur netted the only goal of the game after 15 minutes to give the Development Squad their fourth win in six league games.

The midfielder's strike followed goals against Manchester City and Newcastle in the previous two games and Lletget was full of praise for his fellow centre midfielder.

He told West Ham TV: "I had scored three in three and now George is catching up with me but I couldn't be happier for him.

"He's been my midfield partner through the years at the various age groups and I've played with him a lot so I know how good he is.

"Through the years, and I know it's an old cliché, but we have developed that telepathic connection with each other.

"We've played alongside each other for so long that I know what he wants and he knows what I want."

Moncur's goal was just reward for a great away performance which sent the young Hammers to the top of the Barclays Under-21 Premier League table.

A narrow defeat against Tottenham remains the only stain on a season which has so far seen the Development Squad thrive under Nick Haycock's leadership.

Stoke rarely threatened as Haycock's team created several good chances and Lletget felt his side should have won more comfortably than they did.

He said: "We definitely could have had four or five today.

"I had a couple of good chances, which on another day might have gone in but it's good that we're creating the chances and sooner or later we'll bury them.

"If we weren't creating the opportunities then we might start to worry but at the moment we're creating a lot."

One goal proved to be enough however, with a solid defensive performance laying the foundations for a third consecutive away win.

The match also saw the return of Dan Potts who made his comeback from a knee injury, replacing Leo Chambers at half-time and slotting in alongside Pelly Ruddock at centre back.

After the match Lletget was quick to praise the defensive effort.

"The back four were outstanding today.

"My job was to protect and cover for the defenders but they made my job really easy. They were superb at dealing with everything that Stoke could throw at us."

"All the boys worked hard today including the subs who came into what was quite a tough game, they adapted well to the situation and the win is a huge credit to the whole team."

On a personal note the American midfielder was glad to be back in the fold after he missed the Manchester City match through illness and was hopeful the team can keep their good run going.

"I was really happy to be back. I've been out with illness but now I'm back and I'm feeling great and that's the important thing.

"Touch wood, hopefully we can keep this sort of form going all season.

"All we can do is concentrate on the next game and we can't look beyond that."