Keenan Appiah-Forson believes solidarity, togetherness and a fighting spirit will help West Ham United U21s return to winning ways in Premier League 2.
The development side are without a win in league football this season and fell to a 3-2 defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
While results have not gone the young Hammers’ way, recent performances have merited a share of the spoils, and Appiah-Forson believes three points will not be too far away if the Irons can continue to show their best.
“We know the first half against Brighton was unacceptable, in terms of our level of performance,” the midfielder told whufc.com. “We stepped up the tempo in the second half and gave it a good go. We were just struggling to find the goal. We gave a better account of ourselves though, played better, and next time we have to do that throughout the whole game.
“It’s another tough loss to take. We’re all obviously so disappointed with the result and, right now, we’re struggling to get a win in the league. We need to keep fighting, stick together and keep playing for each other. We need to demand more from each other and I’m sure, if we do that, we’ll find our way very soon.
“There are no easy games in this division. Every team brings different qualities, but we’ve seen first-hand this season just how tough the level of competition is. We need to stop letting sides take points from us. We are desperate to get a win in the next game and show our quality.”
A disappointing showing for the U21s away to Brighton & Hove Albion comes after decent performances and results against Blackburn Rovers and EFL League One side Cheltenham Town.
Appiah-Forson feels those two games offer a better barometer for how good this side is and is looking for a return to those levels next weekend against Liverpool.
“We’ve had a good few matches. We beat Cheltenham Town and we came back against Blackburn Rovers too, so our recent performances have been okay. There were a lot of positives to take from those games but it just didn’t happen against Brighton.
“We won’t let that match know us down though. We’ll pick ourselves back up and go again against Liverpool on Saturday.”
