Martins keen to bounce back

Marcio Martins is keen for the Under-18s to get back to winning ways when they play Norwich City on Saturday morning.

Steve Potts' side will be looking to bounce back from seeing their ten-match unbeaten run ended with a 2-1 defeat at Southampton last weekend when they travel to Norfolk to face the Canaries.

Martins was disappointed to see the streak end but is now fully focused on picking up all three points in their Barclays U18 Premier League clash against sixth-placed Norwich.

He told West Ham TV: "The team didn't perform as we should have. We didn't have our proper back four but the team that Steve put out should have done the job.

"The players train hard every day in training, get on well with each other and we have great banter between us. It was a great run but it had to come to an end at some point.

"We've got to keep looking to the next game to make sure we get a result on Saturday against Norwich. We've got to go there, beat them and get back to winning ways."

Both sides come into the match on the back of defeats, with the Canaries losing out 2-1 to Chelsea on their last outing.

The Hammers are currently four points and one place above Saturday's opponents with a chance to move as high as second with a win.

Martins and his team-mates will also be boosted by the fact they recorded a 2-0 win over the Canaries earlier in the season, a game in which the Portuguese himself netted.

"The last game that we played against them, I scored and we managed to win. Last time that we played them, we played very well, the whole team played well and we're looking to get the same result this time round.

"When we played earlier in the season they kept the ball well, they had a solid back four and they played quite well but we managed to come out on top which is something we're looking to do again on Saturday.

"Individually my performance was very good but team-wise everybody played well."

The young striker also added that the team are looking to do the double over Norwich, a win which he is hoping will help the team compete at the top of the table.

"At the start of the season we didn't think we would be where we are but it's a great achievement and we're looking now to see if we can win the league.

"That defeat did knock us down, you could tell in training that it had knocked us down but we're just getting on with it and trying to win this game."

Highlights and reaction from Saturday's game will appear on whufc.com and West Ham TV.