West Ham United’s U18 squad are more than ready for tomorrow’s  FA Youth Cup third-round tie with Brighton & Hove Albion to kick-off with coach Jack Collison describing them as ”double excited.”

They will be eager to end a six-year wait for a win in the country’s most-prestigious tournament for scholars and schoolboys.

The Irons head into the game on a two-match winning run, having beaten Manchester City and Reading in the U18 Premier League Cup and U18 Premier League South respectively in recent weeks, and co-coach Collison says he and Mark Phillips’ side are ready for action.

And Collison said: “The boys are double excited for the FA Youth Cup! It’s obviously nice to go into the game with a bit of momentum off the back of two wins and two very, very good performances, which is obviously even more pleasing.

“There is plenty of competition for places, which obviously takes the intensity in the training sessions up because everybody is trying to grab the shirt, not just to get in the starting XI but to get in the squad.

“We’ve not just got first and second-year scholars this year, but the schoolboys have been pushing for starts this year. The likes of Jamal Baptiste, Amadou Diallo and Jayden Fevrier have been pushing the boys even harder, which is really pleasing to see.

“We’ve had a really good week’s preparation. The boys have really put the work in in the classroom in terms of the analysis sessions, out on the pitch with their training and keeping on top of things in the gym, so we’re in a really good place and we go into the game high in confidence.

“We obviously know what’s at stake. This is the best youth competition in the world, there’s no doubt about it, so there’s going to be a bit of pressure under the lights at Dagenham in front of a crowd against a good Brighton team.

“We’ve watched a bit of Brighton and we know what they’re all about so it’s a big game and an occasion we’re all looking forward to.”