West Ham U21 coach Mark Robson says the players must learn from their thrashing by PSV Eindhoven reserves.

Robson admitted the home defeat to Jong PSV was a steep learning curve for both him and his players.

A very young Hammers side was beaten 5-0 by the visiting Dutch team in Tuesday evening's Premier League International Cup match.

“This was a good opportunity to look at some of the younger players," the lead coach told whufc.com. “They've been doing very well in the U18s over the last year or so and it was a good test for them against a PSV team who were slightly older, and were much stronger. They were cleverer on the ball.

“We contained them quite well in the first half but, in the second, they took control of the game. They were very good and they're probably the best team we've played this season.

“We never really hurt them, on the attack. We had one or two half chances, but I can't recall us forcing their goalkeeper to make a save. We couldn't get in behind them with our play and our quality. That was disappointing but this is a young team and I wanted to give some of them an opportunity so I could take a look at them.

“It was a big learning curve. You get to find out a bit about some of the lads, which is always good. It's good for me because I can learn things about one or two players and whether they are ready for the next level. The increase in level up to U21s football is much higher. It's a much, much higher standard than the one they are used to do. The quality you play against is much more and there was a lot of quality in that PSV team."