Pre-season fixture or not, Levi Laing will always want to win in London derbies. Particularly against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Academy of Football defender is making the most of his chances in the first team this summer, once again playing the full 90 minutes as West Ham United secured a 3-2 victory over Spurs in Perth.
Danny Ings and Laing’s fellow U21s regular Divin Mubama gave the Irons a two-goal advantage at half-time, only for Tottenham to hit back twice in a three-minute spell in the second half through Giovani Lo Celso and Destiny Udogie.
There was still time for one more twist though, as Gianluca Scamacca latched onto Pablo Fornals’ delightful pass to add a third for West Ham, securing a third consecutive pre-season win and capping the trip to Australia with another victory.
“I loved every minute of that game,” Laing said. “It was a hard one but, playing against Premier League players like that, it’s always going to be a challenge. I love a challenge and, to get the win, that made it even better. That’s two wins from two for us in pre-season in Australia and we can’t complain about that.
“The intensity was crazy. To be honest, I got a bit tired, but you have to be on top of everything and keep going. As it’s a derby, whether it’s a pre-season game or not, you always want to get the win. It was good to get the win over Spurs.”
The 20-year-old is a regular in the heart of defence for Mark Robson’s development side but impressed at right-back in the first half against Spurs at Optus Stadium, having also played the role against Boreham Wood a week ago.
As manager David Moyes shifted formation midway through the second half, Laing moved into a centre-back role as part of a three, along with Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma, and the defender relished the chance to play in both positions against Premier League opposition.
He continued: “I tried to hold on my own. You can tell though, with these Premier League stars, everything is just sharper and technically everything is quicker. But I tried to get involved and just do what I normally do in the U21s games. And I think I showed that in the game.
“It’s good that I can play both right-back and centre-back. It’s good to understand both of those roles. I started the game at right-back and when we went to the three, I played on the right-side of the three and got an understanding of that as well.
“It was easy to slot in because I’ve played right centre-back for the U21s, so it wasn’t anything new for me. I enjoyed it.”
Victory against Tottenham concludes the Irons’ pre-season tour to Western Australia, in which a squad comprised of senior Hammers and development players combined have immersed themselves in the culture of their host country.
Laing has been eager to make the most of every chance he gets in the first-team squad, having enjoyed a taste of senior football last season after making his debut in the UEFA Europa Conference League home win over AEK Larnaca.
With more pre-season matches to come, against Dagenham & Redbridge, Stade Rennais and Bayer Leverkusen before the start of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, Laing hopes for even more opportunities to show what we can do.
“I’ve loved every minute of this trip,” he added. “Australia is so different to London. There is more of a country feel here and Perth is so lovely. The hotel is beautiful and Australia is such a nice place. It’s been a great trip.
“We’re all here for the opportunity to show what we can do. We want to try and take those opportunities with our own two hands. The transition of coming into the first team has been good. The first team boys have been leaders and have given us help.
“I want to stay part of this now. Every time I get an opportunity, I want to show what I can do and go from there. I want to work as hard as possible and let my football do the talking.”
