Tottenham U18 4 Albion U18 0

ALBION were defeated 4-0 at Tottenham in the Barclays U18 Premier League on Saturday. 

 

Victor Zapata-Caicedo netted a hat-trick with Nathan Oduwa completing the scoring as the Baggies lost their first league game since the start of December.

 

Lead development coach James Shan insists his side were not at their best at the week and has now called on his squad to focus on Saturday’s clash with Wolves (ko 11am). 

 

“We didn’t get going in the first half like we have been in previous games and I was very disappointed with our performance during the early stages of the game,” said Shan.

 

“Tottenham brought the game to us and they started with a real intensity and tempo.

 

“We didn’t seem to be able to handle that during the opening 45 minutes.

 

“We were a lot better in the second half and we showed a lot more endeavour. 

 

“Joe Ward came on at half-time and made a massive difference for us.

 

“His desire was infectious and it rubbed off on his team-mates.

 

“4-0 wasn’t quite a fair reflection of the game because of our second-half performance but we certainly didn’t deserve anything from the game as we conceded four goals.

 

“The hope is now that the players learn from the game and it makes them better footballers.

 

“We’ll be treating Saturday like any other game and lots of other people will be probably looking at it differently.

 

“Wolves are industrious and they work incredibly hard so we know going into the game that we will need to be much better than we were during the first half on Saturday otherwise we’ll be in trouble again.”