West Ham United U23s moved up to second in the Premier League 2 Division 1 table with a thrilling 4-3 victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night - but Aji Alese says his team are not ready to rest on their laurels.
The 20-year-old centre back skippered the side at Stevenage's Lamex Stadium as the teams traded six goals in a see-saw first half before the Hammers took control after the break.
Armstrong Okoflex's 49th minute penalty settled the contest in the Hammers' favour, leaving Alese to reflect on a job well done.
"It was a crazy game," the England U20 international admitted. "We came into it wanting three points to carry on from our last game and we knew that if we won we’d go second in the league.
"It’s a great win – we conceded more goals than we want to, but sometimes a win is all you’re looking for from the game and that’s what we got."
Alese was happy to help his team tighten up after that wild opening period and execute their second half gameplan to the letter.
"We came in at half time and said if we keep a clean sheet in the second half we’ll win the game," he continued. "We knew we could cause problems going forward and that’s what happened. We need to stop the leaks for the next game and hopefully win comfortably.
"We’re looking back at other games and thinking we could be even further up the table but second in the league isn’t bad and we just need to keep going forward and progressing."
