West Ham under 23s went four points clear at the top of Premier League 2 Division Two last night with a fine 2-0 victory over Manchester United

The young Irons won the game via goals from Alfie Lewis before Nathan Holland rocketed a strike home on the breakaway ten minutes later.

That could easily have been Nathan’s last game for the lads as he has now been firmly linked with a move to Oxford before the end of the winter window.

We have also learned that Conor Coventry – who recently signed a new deal with the club – is likely to be snapped up by League One outfit Lincoln City.

Last night’s game was marked by goalkeeper Joseph Anang picking up  two late yellow cards, forcing Krisztian Hegyi to emerge from the bench, but the U23s’ performed professionally to see the result out.

Lead coach Dmitri Haljko commented afterwards: “I think we played well and were the better team. We deserved the victory. I’m really pleased with how we played out of possession to keep a clean sheet and pressed and didn’t get played through easily.”

“2-0 up and, in the second half we had a couple more chances which could’ve killed it off, but then, right at the end, we had to hang on having gone down to ten men with ten minutes left.

“Last time we played these we were in a similar situation [a 2-2 draw in August] and we didn’t manage to hang on, so it was nice to put that to bed tonight and show that we’re capable of hanging on when we need to.

“I think the whole team can take credit for that clean sheet because we defended really well from the front, pressed and nicked it up the pitch, and, at other times, we had to really defend our penalty box. There were also moments of brilliance – like Krisztian’s save at the end – which secured that clean sheet.”

The match was the junior Hammers’ first competitive game in three weeks and he added: “They’ve worked hard in the break,” he said. “They’ve probably each had three or four days off over Christmas, but apart from that they’ve been training really hard.

“We had a [behind-closed-doors] friendly match as well, so although they haven’t had a break from fixtures, they certainly haven’t had a break in general. They’ve been working really, really hard every single day.”

ClaretandHugh says: The under 23s are now unbeaten in Premier League 2 and extraordinary achievement following relegation last season and under new lead coach.,Halajko,  they have performed in amazing style. The leap from under 23 level to Premier League however is massive and nobody should get too carried away and start pushing for early promotions to the first team squad. Leading the way in that area will be Ben Johnson when he is fully recovered from injury but it now seems certain that Holland and Coventry will continue their education on loan.