Nathan Trott, the West Ham United under-23 goalkeeper, said it is encouraging to witness the hard work that he and his team-mates put in over the festive period beginning to bear fruit.

The under-23 side got the new year off to a flying start with a 3-0 win at Manchester United in the Premier League 2 at Leigh Sports Village on Monday.

Trott made a string of saves to keep a clean sheet.

“It’s always good to keep a clean sheet against a top club like Manchester United and even better to beat them for the second time this season,” Trott told The Royal Gazette.

“The team has been working really hard this Christmas break, so it’s always good to see the work on the training ground working out on the pitch.”

West Ham scored second-half goals from Grady Diangana, Toni Martínez and Martin Samuelsen to complete an impressive league double over United.

The home side played most of the second half with ten men after Luca Ercolani was dismissed in the 53rd minute for kicking Diangana in the face.

The win was West Ham’s first in the Premier League 2 since beating Manchester City 2-1 at the Chigwell Construction Stadium last October.

It was the first time Trott and his team-mates were in action in over a month having had their fixtures against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur in December postponed because of bad weather. The under-23s are sixth in the standings, tied on points with fifth-placed Swansea City, having taken 20 points from a possible 36. They are back in action tomorrow at home to second placed Leicester City, who trail league leaders Liverpool by two points.

“We’ve got Leicester which is going to be another tough game, so we’ll have to remain focused again to get another good result and hopefully climb up the table,” Trott said.

The former BAA and Bermuda under-17 player, was named on the bench in West Ham’s Premier League match at league leaders Manchester City last November.

Trott, who signed an initial 2½-year deal with West Ham in January 2016, which has since been extended until 2020, has also been capped twice for England under-20 and was a member of the squad that won the European Under-19 Championship in Georgia last summer.