After signing from Scottish Premiership side Hibernian in January, Josh Landers has certainly made an impression in his first eight months at the Academy of Football.
Less than 40 minutes into his Academy debut, the young centre-forward was already off the mark for the U18s and went on to score against all of the first five opponents he faced in U18s football - Leicester City, Chelsea, Derby County, Crystal Palace and Fulham.
That impressive record saw him finish his debut season in double figures, despite only joining halfway through, not to mention his role in securing silverware in the Premier League Cup. Landers started the final alongside strike partner Josh Ajala and scored in the semi-final at Derby County.
“Looking back, I think it was a really positive first few months,” he reflected. “Scoring in my first game really helped I think just to sort of settle the nerves of playing for a new team in a different country with different teammates. Obviously I continued to do so as the season went on and my confidence just grew with every game.”
Now a full-time member of the U21s, Landers will be looking to continue his goalscoring form for Mark Robson’s development side. Adjusting to the step up in category over the summer, Landers did not take long to get off the mark in Premier League 2, scoring a brace on his first league start as the U21s defeated Sunderland 4-2 at Eppleton Colliery Football Ground late last month.
“It was a top feeling scoring those two goals and helping us get our first win in Premier League 2 this season,” he continued. “It was also a bit of a weight off my shoulders getting that first goal of a new season. Hopefully we can kick on from here and continue to get results.
“This season I want to play as much as I can and score as often as I can. Being a striker, one of the major things you’re judged on is your goals so hopefully I can use those two goals as fuel to continue to score and help the team throughout the season.”
The Scottish national team have taken notice of his outstanding form for the young Hammers, recalling him to the youth set-up in March, two years after he had last represented his country at U16s level.
#SCO19s | Our Men's Under-19s will be taking part in the Slovenia Nations Cup next month 🏴
➡️ Read more about the squad here: https://t.co/q7tsjkFGU3#YoungTeam pic.twitter.com/qq7OUmFgFD— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) August 19, 2025
Under the guidance of recently-appointed Brentford Assistant Coach Neil MacFarlane, the 2007-born U19s squad have been in Slovenia preparing for the UEFA U19 European Championship qualifiers in November where they have been drawn in Group 8 alongside England, Lithuania and Latvia.
Speaking ahead of the September camp, and three friendlies against hosts Slovenia, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, Landers said: “It’ll be nice to catch up with the boys and some of my old teammates from back home. Hopefully we can come out of the camp with a few good results to build our confidence looking ahead to the November Euro qualifiers.”
Landers was a second-half substitute in Scotland’s opening game against Slovenia on Wednesday. Replacing Aberdeen’s Fletcher Boyd on 59 minutes, Scotland immediately equalised having trailed by two. Despite dominating the second half, and some good chances coming Landers’ way, a late goal from the hosts consigned MacFarlane’s side to a 3-2 defeat.
Landers and his Scotland teammates will next be in action on Saturday 6 September when they face Kazakhstan before wrapping up their camp against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday 9 September.
