The Hammers went down 1-0 to the Gunners in their Premier League 2 clash away at Meadow Park.
West Ham United Under-23s coach Liam Manning has bemoaned his side’s 1-0 loss to their Arsenal counterparts in the Premier League 2 away at Meadow Park on Friday night.
The Hammers, who are struggling near the bottom of the table but won their last game – against Swansea City – 3-0, put in a good display against the Gunners as Nathan Holland, Dan Kemp and Alfie Lewis all went close.
However, 17-year-old goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo, making his PL2 debut, was able to keep a clean sheet for Arsenal while Tyreece John-Jules scored the winner to leave West Ham without a point for their efforts.
Their display against the Gunners was much improved to the one from their original fixture in February, which was called off and rescheduled due to fog with the Hammers three goals down, while the reverse, which took place back in August, yielded a 3-2 loss at the London Stadium.
Manning believes his charges deserved to get something from the game but, despite a poor season so far, is optimistic that, with a bit more hard work from the players, particularly up top, they can round off the campaign with a few wins.
“I think in the two games we played Arsenal in prior to tonight… we were disappointed with those games and you can see how far we’ve come tonight, in terms of the way we’ve played,” Manning told the West Ham website. “We’re just gutted for the lads to be honest, because they deserved to get something from the game.
“We just spoke to the boys after the game and told them that if they apply themselves like they have done in training recently, and they apply themselves like they did in this game, and perhaps add a bit of quality in the top end of the pitch, then we can go win some games to end this season.”
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