Matt Blake Swansea City
27th January
Defender Mathew Blake believes Swansea City Under-18s go into Saturday's home clash with West Ham buoyed by sealing the league double over Leicester City last weekend.
The young Swans came from behind to pick up a second league victory over the Foxes this term, having already beaten them 3-0 earlier in the campaign.
Left-back Blake struck the winner last weekend with his thunderous 20-yard effort capping off the comeback in a 2-1 victory which lifts the young Swans off the foot of the Premier League South table.
And he believes that success can boost the Swans' confidence going into Saturday's test with the Hammers at Landore (1pm).
"The Leicester result is a huge confidence boost going forward," the left-back said. "We showed good character to come from a goal behind to win and we knew we could deliver.
"It was great to get my first goal of the campaign. We have relied on Liam (Cullen's) goals this season, but know that other players need to step-up to score, so it was great to do that and help the team to victory."
The Under-18s lost out in stoppage time when the side last met West Ham as the side fell to a 3-2 defeat at Little Heath in October.
"We did not play to our full potential when we played them earlier in the season," he said. "As a team we must make sure we are at our best in this game.
"Results have not reflected the way we have played. I don't think people can look at the table and judge our season on our position because we have played a lot better than what it shows.
"We have a target of where we want to finish and the number of points we want to get from our last remaining games and I think that has made us more focused and determined to reach those goals."
UNDER-18s SQUAD (from): Ross Treacy, Alex Lang, Mael Davies, Matt Blake, Dan Jefferies, Jordan Jones, Brandon Cooper, Causso Darame, Marco Dulca, Liam Cullen, Keiran Evans, Liam Edwards, Ben Cabango, Joe Lewis, Sean Hanbury, Rhydian Williams, Ben Morgan, Tom Price, Cameron Berry, Matt Roberts, Jordan Elliot, Oliver Cooper, Finlay Hazel.
The Under-18s face West Ham at Landore Training Ground this Saturday, January 28 (1pm). Entry is FREE, but there is no parking at the Landore facility.
