West Ham United Development Squad manager Nick Haycock said he was pleased with his team's effort as they came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw away at Fulham.
The Dev Squad have had a tough start to the league campaign as they have not won in five games, yet this performance was an impressive turnaround following the 4-0 defeat by Liverpool last Friday. Fulham, in contrast, have started their league campaign strongly, securing two wins and two draws so far.
West Ham's tough run looked to be continuing after Fulham striker Marcello Trotta opened the scoring after 52 minutes with a header. However the Hammers responded well as two minutes later Elliot Lee scored his first goal of the season to secure a valuable point.
Speaking after the game Haycock said: "I think a draw was a fair result. It could have gone either way. They could have nicked it 2-1 late on, but we also had chances so it was one of those games.
"I was pleased with the application of the players, I thought they worked hard on Friday. We played a little deeper at times and tried to play on the counter a bit and I think it worked to a point.
"I didn't think there was much in the game. We didn't have too many chances in the first half but we asked the full backs to get forward more often because Fulham were playing quite narrow. We got our goal through our width and if we'd done that earlier then we might have won the game."
The performance represents a big improvement from last week: "Goals obviously give a different reflection of the game. I think Liverpool were the better team last week but there were a few things we did well.
"As a coach, my job is to develop the players we have here. So we need to take the positive and negative things away from each game. We need to make sure we combine both to improve our players."
Another encouraging sign for Haycock was the team's response to conceding first: "There was a bit of concern especially after a 4-0 beating. You wonder if going a goal down will dampen the mood. But the team realised they were well in the game, and doing good things. It was a great response, and we might've taken the three points after that."
While the Dev Squad's performance against Fulham represented a step in the right direction. Haycock knows there is still room for improvement as they try to find that elusive first win of the season.
"We've asked the players to go away and analyse their own performances and ask themselves if they can improve in any areas. Do they think they can push themselves to be better, to get to the next level?
"We're in the business of trying to win football matches. But the ultimate thing is trying to develop Premier League players."
The Development Squad's next home game is against Sunderland on Monday 29 September 2014 at the Boleyn Ground, Kick-off is at 7pm.