As his team prepare for their final fixture of 2019, West Ham United U23s Lead Coach Dmitri Halajko believes many of his players are ready to take the next step in the new year.
The Hammers’ development squad play host to Newcastle United at Rush Green Stadium on Monday lunchtime having largely dominated Premier League 2 Division 2 so far this season, with ten wins and two draws from their 12 matches.
Two of their number have claimed the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award in recent months – Anthony Scully for September and Nathan Holland for November – while his attackers currently possess three of the division’s top four scorers (Scully, Holland and Dan Kemp).
While the U23s were held to a draw in their last league game against Fulham last weekend, Halajko believes his players will be keen to impress in their last league game for three weeks to boost their chances of progression.
“It’s another chance for our lads to show individually what they can do,” Halajko observed. “We want some of these lads to go and play league football after Christmas, whether that’s in our first-team or out on loan.
“That’ll be decided by other people, but I think it’s another opportunity for them, before the window opens again in January, to show any scouts, any first-team coaches that are watching from our staff or other teams’ staff, what they’re all about, because we want some players playing league football in the second half of the season.”
While two late goals denied the Hammers their eighth consecutive league win last week, the display included plenty of positives for Halajko and his side.
Jezza [Ngakia] has been out for a long, long time. He came back against Fulham and I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch, so we’re delighted to have him back
Dmitri Halajko
Chief amongst them was the return of Jeremy Ngakia, the versatile 19-year-old defender who saw match action for the first time since August having recovered from a long-term injury.
Ngakia set about making up for lost time as he pinged several spectacular passes around the pitch from a central defensive berth, including a long ball over the top converted by Kemp for West Ham’s second goal of the night.
“Jezza’s been out for a long, long time,” Halajko observed. “He came back against Fulham and I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch, so we’re delighted to have him back.”
Another teenager making an impact that evening was Amadou Diallo, the 16-year-old winger who opened the scoring at Motspur Park before leaving the field prior to the half-time whistle.
“Amadou didn’t last very long because he took a real bad knock, but from what he could do in the short spell he had in the game, he took his goal brilliantly,” Halajko said. It was a great impact by him. I think he was the youngest player on the pitch by quite some way, so it was a really nice achievement for him to get another goal at this level.”
As for Monday afternoon’s match at home to the Magpies, Halajko is confident his players will approach the fixture with their customary desire to impress – and win.
“We look forward to the next game. We always do – win, lose or draw,” he said. “We’re still unbeaten so if we can get to Christmas unbeaten, that would be a brilliant achievement.”
West Ham United U23s against Newcastle U23s kicks off at 12 noon on Monday 16 December at Rush Green Stadium.
