West Ham United's 18 year-old defender Josh Payne is delighted with his involvement in Gianfranco Zola's senior squad.

The 18-year-old who can play at centre-back or midfield was part of the senior squad that spent part of this week at a warm-weather training camp in Spain. He said the time spent out there was beneficial both on and off the pitch ahead of Monday's game with West Bromwich Albion and that it was great to be involved.

"We had a good few days, it was something different but at the same time we worked as hard as ever on the training pitch. It was good to be with all the boys on and off the pitch in a different environment," Payne told whufc.com.

"The quality of training was great and very enjoyable. Each day you knew going down to the training ground that you were going to be working towards very high standards - but it was also nice to have some warmer weather to go with it."

Payne added: "It's been a busy season in terms of me going on loan [to Cheltenham] and then being in and around the first team recently. I want more of that and so I am going to be making sure I do all the right things, keep working hard so I can show the manager what I can do."