Woking assistant manager Simon Bassey admitted Sam Ashford’s red card proved costly as the ten-man Cards lost 2-0 against West Ham United under-21s in the National League Cup.

Ashford received a second yellow card on 50 minutes for kicking the ball away, before the Hammers scored twice in stoppage time to win the game.

“It was really difficult,” said Bassey.

“It was a difficult night anyway, but with ten men you're making it really hard for yourself.

“Unfortunately, Sam's eagerness probably has cost us.

“He wants to score a goal – we understand that.

“Obviously he's keen to score goals but when you're on a yellow card you've got to be smarter than that.

“Unfortunately, we all suffered for it.

“It's a split-second decision and it makes it really hard for us.

“We had a plan to manage boys' minutes because it was a Wednesday evening, but that plan went out the window a little bit. Ultimately, we had to do what's best for the players.

“I thought in the first half we probably shaded it and probably had more shots on target than West Ham.

“Our expected goals probably was slightly higher than West Ham’s and I thought it was a good game.

“When the first goal went in you could see the pin go out of the team.

“It was a difficult evening from the second half onwards. I thought the lads on the whole conducted themselves really well. We limited West Ham as much as possible.”

Goalkeeper Tom Norcott was named Woking’s man-of-the-match on his debut, and Bassey was delighted with the keeper’s efforts.

“Young Tom in goal has come in on his debut and made some fantastic saves, so that's really good for him,” said Bassey.

“He obviously came here well recommended. His pedigree is good, and you saw a lot of his attributes.”