Dmitri Halajko

West Ham’s under-23s battled to a 0-0 draw against Blackburn Rovers keeping their first clean sheet of the new season at Rush Green this afternoon.

Lead coach Dmitri Halajko reflected afterwards: “It was a tight game, which we thought it would be. They’re unbeaten in the league and they’re unbeaten for a reason, so we knew it was going to be a tough game. It was tight, with not many openings at all.

“We were pleased with ourselves tactically. I thought we didn’t give much away. We’re happy with the clean sheet, but in terms of quality-wise on the ball, we were below what we needed to be, especially in the crucial areas. 

“If we’d have got that right, we could’ve turned it into a win, but we didn’t manage it today so we’re going to have to settle for a draw.

“We’re happy with the clean sheet – that is probably the main positive to come out of it. It’s our first one in the league this season – we’ve had one other in the EFL Trophy as well. 

“It was quite a convincing clean sheet. We didn’t give them much at all – that’s not an easy thing to achieve.”