West Ham United academy centre-back Jamal Baptiste made his first appearance for the under-21s in exactly five months last Friday.
The 19-year-old Redbridge-born defender was a regular feature at Premier League 2 level, scoring three goals in 17 appearances for the under-23s (now under-21s). Last season, he also played the duration of West Ham’s Europa League game for the first-team during a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the competition’s group stage, as well as making the bench for the first leg of the Europa Conference League win over Viborg in August.
Last Friday night, Baptiste made his return to action for the club’s academy, exactly five months after his most recent appearance as a late substitute during a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on September 3.
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Mark Robson’s under-21s side took on Monaco at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, Dagenham, where the Hammers lost 2-1 to the French side in their final match of this season’s Premier League International Cup.
In a heavily rotated side, with goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi away with the first-team and under-18s stars Divin Mubama, Ollie Scarles, Kaelan Casey and Callum Marshall all with playing in the FA Youth Cup win over Stoke City at the same time, the under-21s made six changes from the side that won 3-2 at Chelsea a week earlier.
Of the six players to come in, there was a start for Baptiste, who played for 76 minutes before being replaced by Levi Laing, who recently made the first-team bench for their FA Cup win at Derby County.
In the game, midfielder Dan Chesters had given the Hammers a lead inside the first minute, but goals from Monaco forward Malamine Efekele inside the opening 12 minutes sealed a 2-1 victory for the French side.
West Ham’s under-21s are back in action on Friday night when they play host to Fulham in Premier League 2. Kick-off is at 7pm.
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