Joseph Anang in West Ham United squad for clash v Gent
Young goalkeeper Joseph Anang is in the West Ham squad for their Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg clash with Gent on Thursday (20 April), as per Football London.
The Hammers welcome the Belgian outfit to the London Stadium after the clubs played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg last Thursday (13 April).
David Moyes’s side are unbeaten in their last three matches in all competitions, drawing with Gent and Arsenal after defeating Fulham.
“Academy goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi trained on Wednesday, meaning he could make the squad,” according to Football London.
“However, with Lukasz Fabianski, Alphonse Areola and Joseph Anang all also training, it is unlikely that Moyes will name 23 players in his matchday squad.”
Exciting moment
Given the absence of the injured Gianluca Scamacca and the suspended Angelo Ogbonna, Moyes has been forced into naming some youngsters in his latest squad.
The likes of Freddie Potts, Keenan Appiah-Forson and Divin Mubama could feature on the bench, as well as fellow academy player Anang.
The goalkeeper has 50 West Ham under-21s appearances to his name, having previously spent loan spells at Stevenage, Derby County and St Patrick’s Athletic.
Remarkably, Anang has yet to feature for West Ham, but lined out for Irish club St Pat’s in qualifying matches for this season’s Europa Conference League.
While he remains well behind Fabianski and Areola in the pecking order, it will still be an exciting time for the 22-year-old to watch his teammates up close in a major European competition.
It’s a huge game for the Hammers, who will be full of confidence going into the game amid their brilliant run of form, with the draw against league leaders Arsenal particularly impressive.
With Premier League survival also an aim for Moyes this season, being knocked out of the Europa Conference League at this stage wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but the boss will definitely want to bring home silverware in an otherwise miserable campaign.