Nigerian wonderkid Joshua Okocha impressed on his debut for West Ham U23 on Tuesday night, despite the young Hammers losing 2-0 to Benfica in a Premier League International Cup contest at AGP Arena (Billericay, Essex).

Aged 15, the central defender broke into West Ham's U18 squad in September and has put in a full shift in their last four matches in the U18 Premier League.

West Ham United U23s coach Liam Manning was delighted with the performance of Okocha in his post-match comments.

He told whufc.com : ''Josh did well. He has been playing in the youth team regularly and he was in the team tonight on a combination of merit and injuries.

''It was a great opportunity and him grasping that opportunity, he will be really pleased. He’s now got to keep working hard week-in, week-out in the youth team.''

In the 20th minute, Tunji Akinola partnered Okocha in defense after Greenidge sustained an injury.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : whufc.com