Sean Tarima is looking forward to what could be a superb weekend for West Ham United U18s.
Kevin Keen’s young Hammers host Arsenal on Saturday, with the knowledge that a point will be enough to secure the U18s Premier League South title.
The young Irons will also face the Gunners in the FA Youth Cup Final after an impressive 6-1 victory over Southampton at the London Stadium last Thursday, although Tarima is determined to remain focused solely on Saturday's battle.
“It’s been a crazy season,” Tarima told whufc.com. “We haven’t achieved anything yet though. We still have important games left to play and we always take things one match at a time.
“We are an ambitious team, and we always go out to win and that will be the same against Arsenal. We want to finish the league campaign as strongly as possible and right now all of our focus is on getting a good result at the weekend.”
Tarima has enjoyed a superb season on a personal level, with the defender returning to action in November after being side-lined for nine months through injury.
The 18-year-old suggested that togetherness has been a key part of the U18s success so far this campaign.
He continued: “It’s been a really special season so far. I didn’t really set myself any targets at the start of the year, I just wanted to play and to enjoy my football after such a long time out with injury.
"It was a really tough time for me and I missed the start of the season. My teammates and staff helped me a lot through that period, and I still felt a part of things.
“My injury made me hungry to get back and to help the team. I now have the hunger to be as successful as possible and hopefully we can win the league on Saturday. I think we are all able to be ourselves on the pitch and that is down to the players and staff around us, it is a great group to be a part of.”
The teenager pointed out that the Hammers will have to be at their brilliant best if they want to claim the title this weekend.
“We want to win every competition that we enter but there is also an emphasis on the way that we play. If we play at our best, then we know that we have a chance of achieving our goals.
“Arsenal are a good side but we know what we can do too. We had a great result against a really good Southampton side in the Youth Cup last week and we were able to celebrate an amazing win at full-time. We want to experience that same feeling again on Saturday.”