- Terry Westley praised his PL2 side's first half display in their defeat to Blackburn Rovers
- Westley also praised Noha Sylvestre, Grady Diangana and Joe Powell who came into the side
- The Hammers were beaten 2-1 in Lancashire
Terry Westley labelled West Ham United PL2’s first half display a “proper masterclass” but said silly mistakes cost them in his side's 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
The Hammers went a goal down inside four minutes after a cross from Anthony Stokes somehow dipped into the top corner but responded when Grady Diangana finished off a superb team move on his return to the starting eleven.
Josh Pask unfortunately put through his own net ten minutes before half-time, and that proved to be the decisive goal, but Westley was still full of praise for his players' performance.
“It was a good performance but probably the wrong result,” he said. “You don’t always get what you deserve in this game and I’ve been in this game long enough to understand that.
“In terms of development and how we want to play, particularly first half was a proper masterclass. We were very, very good.
“But if you let two in away from home, you’ve got to score three to win. The game got broken up a bit in the second half, we gave away silly free kicks and their goalkeeper was taking a long time.
“So it was a mixture second half and we weren’t as good as we were in the first half. But we’re really disappointed to get back on the bus and not take any points from the game.”
Westley made three changes to the side that drew with Aston Villa last week. Noha Sylvestre, Grady Diangana and Joe Powell came into the side and impressed the manager.
“They came in and we still played with the same identity and style,” Westley continued. “All three, particularly Joe Powell playing up front on his own, were very good. Noha was good and Grady, particularly first half, was very dangerous as a No10.
“The two goals killed us. But if we continue to play as we do and pass the ball like we did tonight, we’ll come through those games (against Leicester and Nottingham Forest in the Cup) and come through well.”