West Ham central defender Tunji Akinola has spoken of his happiness at returning to action after spending a year on the sidelines.

Prior to Monday's Premier League 2 match against Manchester United at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, Akinola had not featured for the Hammers development squad since January 5, 2019 when he lasted 39 minutes on the pitch against Manchester City before picking up an injury while clearing the ball off the line.

In his comeback game, the highly-rated center back shone as West Ham kept a clean sheet against a talented Manchester United team.

"It’s a great day for me, it’s really positive. We needed this win today, it was a top-of-the-table clash, and especially for me being out injured for a year, and coming back into a game like this, it was amazing," Akinola told the official website of West Ham.

"I knew it was going to be a massive game to come back into but it’s the kind of challenge I look forward to.

"I’ve been working all those months in the gym, doing my physio, doing everything properly to be ready for nights like this, and I was happy that I could help the team today to get a good result."

The 21-year-old added : "Obviously I have to thank all the staff. Tom [Smith, Head Of Academy Elite Performance & Sports Medicine] has been great with me since day one.

"With Lewis [Coldham] and James [Cheeseman] in the gym as well, and Dmitri [Halajko] and Steve [Potts], all the staff have been so great to me, and I can’t thank them enough. The result is just the perfect reward for that."

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : whufc.com