SIXTEEN-year-old goalkeeper Jake Larkins revealed he was told by West Ham's kit man that he was on the bench for the team's trip to Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.

The Under-18s stopper had to make a late dash to make the first team's flight up to the north west after number one Robert Green failed to recover from minor surgery in time, while deputies Marek Stech and Peter Kurucz were also sidelined.

The starting position went to 23-year-old Belgian Ruud Boffin, with Larkins taking a place on the first-team bench for the first time, although he was not called in to action.

“I had just got out of the shower on Friday afternoon when I found out,” he told West Ham TV. “James (Saban) the kit man came in and told me. Everything went so fast. I had to go to Stansted. I left Chadwell Heath at 3pm and got there just in time at 4pm. I was lucky.

“I had four missed calls on my phone. I didn't know what it was before James told me I had to travel with the team to Blackburn. It turned out to be a great experience – especially warming up with (goalkeeping coach David Coles) before the match. I'd love to do it again any day of the week.”