Albion under-23s complete a memorable 2018 at West Ham today with a ringing endorsement of their achievements from first team manager Chris Hughton.

Simon Rusk's youngsters head into their final fixture of the year (1pm) in fifth place in the Premier League 2 table after winning promotion.

They are above Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs, a point below Manchester City and two behind Chelsea.

Hughton said: "When you are going up a level, particularly from where we are as a club at the moment, you are never 100 per cent sure how they are going to cope.

"I think they have been outstanding. Credit to the recruitment process. I think we are a stronger team than we've ever had at under-23 level.

"But you need somebody that's going to organise them and build their progress, bring them on as players individually and into a team structure.

"Simon Rusk has been excellent. He is a well thought of coach here who has come through academy level to right up to the 23's and he has been instrumental to their progress in the last few years.

"We hope we can keep that going and I think that will also come with our recruitment processes and players coming through our academy."