Irons boss David Moyes was happy to see his senior players get some match action into their legs last night after only a brief summer break.
The Hammers sent teams to Orient and Northampton as the pre-season continued to gather pace with the boss remaining in London and Stuart Pearce overseeing the lads at the second division club,
Moysie watched the team earn a 0-0 draw with a number of first team players taking the opportunity of getting an important run out.
The team gained a 2-1 win at The Cobblers but essentially it was all about getting fit as we approach the new season which kicks off at Newcastle.
Moyes declared: “I wanted to get the senior players 90 minutes on the pitch tonight, so we were pleased get that into their legs.
“There are a lot of players away just now and, so it’s not helping in putting strong teams out, and it was a hard game for us [at Orient].
“Orient played well and we have to give them credit. It was tough for us, but good for the other team who won 2-1 tonight at Northampton. The two results were okay for us.
“{Most importantly] we wanted to give them 90 minutes, that’s why we split them and I’m pleased that we had the chance to do that.”
The manager is looking forward to welcoming back the players involved with their countries over the summer as pre-season goes on, but says these first few weeks are equally crucial for the players he does have at his disposal as they aim to scale the heights they hit last term again.
He added: “We’ve got a long way to go and it’s difficult at the moment where we’ve only got half the squad, but we’re trying to get everybody in the best condition we can,” he continued.
“Most of them aren’t back for another two to three weeks yet, but we’ll get some of them back and start to build them up in the coming weeks.
“But the likes of Declan, the Czech boys have a few weeks to go yet. They have holiday time and they deserve it for the way they played for us last year and they did really well at the Euros. So they have time off and we’ll factor that in as well.
“We’re training the players all the time and we’re working them hard, so we’re hoping to keep building on it and we want to get back to the levels we were at last year.
“We’ve got high standards to set and we’re looking forward to doing that.”
The squad for Orient was: Randolph, Ashby (Potts 46), Baptiste, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Ekwah, Johnson, Xande Silva, Oko-Flex (Diallo 75), Antonio
Subs: Knightbridge (GK), Chesters, Dju, Greenidge
The squad at Northampton was Trott, Fredericks, Dawson, Alves, Alese, Coventry, Forson (Rosa 77), Lanzini (c), Bowen, Holland, Odubeko (Swyer 85)
Subs not used: Hegyi (GK), Nevers, Ashley