Freddie Potts had to step up on and off the pitch on Friday evening.
West Ham United U21s had just beaten current Premier League 2 leaders Chelsea 3-2; the dressing room, in his own words, was ‘buzzing, mate’.
But after the departure of Will Greenidge to Colchester United this week, an important role has fallen to the No8.
Having secured a memorable win at Chelsea, Potts was given the aux. Some pressure, right?
“Everyone was buzzing,” Potts enthused, on the mood in the away dressing room. “It’s so good to be in there with a winning feeling.
“I’m on the music now. It was Will, but I've had to step up. We just put on a load of house music on; everyone was getting the moves out.
"Everyone’s in the dressing room shouting, and screaming because the music went straight on! To win like we did, it’s unbelievable, yeah!”
And there was rightly a feel-good atmosphere in the away dressing room. The Hammers had shown plenty of fight and character after George Earthy’s well-worked opener and Divin Mubama’s classy brace gave the Irons a 3-1 lead by the interval.
The Hammers had conceded a two-goal advantage in the second half last time out against Manchester United, and the players were delighted at the final whistle to put the wrongs right from that defeat against Chelsea.
“After the last game against Manchester United where we were two goals up at half-time, it was really important we stayed focused in the second half against Chelsea,” Potts stated.
“We had to work hard and cover the spaces. We fought really well, especially in the last ten minutes, some of the defending from the lads at the back was unbelievable.
“I thought as a team we dug in really well, defended well and took our chances, which is the main thing. We have been playing well, but the results have not shown that until now!”
The U21s return to action when they take on Monaco in the Premier League International Cup on Friday 3 February, in a game that will be played at Dagenham & Redbridge's Chigwell Construction Stadium.
