Freddie Potts believes West Ham United U21s’ 1-1 come-back draw away to Arsenal U21s shows that the side are improving and moving in the right direction.
The Irons continued their recent, good form going with a share of the spoils at the LV Bet Stadium on Friday evening as Divin Mubama’s late penalty cancelled out Joel Ideho’s 62nd-minute opener for the Gunners.
In a game of few, clear-cut chances, Potts was satisfied with how the development team fought back to take something from an Arsenal team who seldom drop points on home turf.
“Coming away with a point isn’t a bad result,” the midfielder told whufc.com. “That was certainly our first reaction when we got into the dressing room after the game. It was a big point because not many teams can come to Arsenal and get anything. It’s a hard place to come and play.
“It was a tough game, particularly in the second half. We didn’t feel like we were quite as good as we were in the first half. But it’s a good point for us to get on the board.”
Each fixture the U21s have participated in since the start of 2023 has been a battle in its own way and Potts feels he and his teammates are proving that they are up for any challenge that comes their way.
The 19-year-old pointed to recent wins over west London pair Chelsea and Fulham as signs that the Irons can compete with the very best in Premier League 2 Division 1.
He continued: “The performance we put in shows we’ll keep fighting in every game. You have to fight to earn results and I think we’ve really shown that in the last few weeks.
“It was really clear when we went to Chelsea, when we got three points, and at home to Fulham too. We had to really fight here at Arsenal too and, while we didn’t get all three points, the character is growing in this team and we’re heading in the right direction.”
A draw away to Arsenal means the U21s, despite a difficult run at the beginning of the 2022/23 season, have only lost one of their six league games played since the start of November.
The upturn in form has seen West Ham move from bottom of the division and up out of the relegation zone, and Potts is relishing the Irons’ status as a ‘hard-to-beat’ team.
“We’re taking each game as it comes. We’re looking at our last five or six games and we’ve lost once – at home to Manchester United – and we’re on a good run of form. We’re becoming hard to beat and we want to keep that going now. We’ve got more big games coming up.
“We take pride in being hard to beat too. It’s instilled in each team at West Ham; in the first team and in every Academy side. That’s consistent across the Club and we see it from our defensive line all the way up to our attackers.
“We’re improving in that area and we’re getting ourselves into a position where we can win games. Hopefully we can keep doing that.”
