The manner of West Ham United U21s’ Premier League 2 defeat to Manchester City made the result a particularly difficult one to take for Freddie Potts and his teammates.
The young Irons were beaten 5-1 at Rush Green Stadium on Friday evening by a City side who showed just why they sit top of Division 1, with their clinical finishing securing all three points against the Hammers.
Two Kian Breckin finishes, an Oscar Bobb strike, Alex Roberton’s penalty and a cruel own-goal for Potts himself had put the visitors completely in control, although the development team had seen opportunities to find the net either saved, or go agonisingly wide.
Divin Mubama added a late consolation for the hosts but Potts admitted the side could have done better.
“It was a hard night at the office,” the 19-year-old told whufc.com. “We knew how good City would be on the ball and we had a gameplan to deal with that, but it didn’t really go the way we wanted it to.
“It’s just disappointing how it ended up being 5-1 because we all think we could have made more of the game, or scored a couple more goals ourselves and made it a more even result. But we’ll take it on the chin and go again.”
Chances may have gone begging but for Potts, who played as a centre-back in Friday’s match, the biggest area lessons need to be learned came defensively.
He continued. “As a team, we need to look at the goals we conceded in this game. There were a couple of mistakes that we need to improve on, for sure.
“I think there were a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way, that perhaps should have, but you can’t control that. We need to look at what we can control and what we can do better.”
The frustration of the defeat can be eased slightly by the immense form shown by the U21s in recent weeks. Heading into the match with Manchester City, the Hammers had won six of their previous eight Premier League 2 matches, losing just once – to Manchester United.
With more big matches to come against the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, two teams below the Irons in Premier League 2, Potts is desperate for the side to return to winning ways.
“We’ve been on a good run of form recently,” he added. “We’ve got some really good results but, against City, it just didn’t happen for us. It’s a tough one to take because we wanted to showcase what we can do and make more of it.
“But now we’ve just got to look forward and prepare for our next game. There’s a little while to go, but Wolves will be a tough test and we need to be ready.”
