sport news West Ham's Ben Johnson opens up on their Euro adventure and Mark Noble's ... trends now
One of the most revealing photos of the season shows West Ham captain Mark Noble after David Moyes's team had won at Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final last month.
Noble had played just the final 13 minutes but the picture shows him wearing a towel and flip flops, sweeping up the mess in the away dressing room. It is, by all accounts, a regular habit and, as Noble prepares to play his last home game before retirement on Sunday, the baton is about to be passed to someone else.
'I am actually in the background of that photo and it looks like I am refusing to help,' laughs West Ham right back Ben Johnson.
Ben Johnson is a typical product of West Ham's academy system, and is set for a bright future
'I got hammered by my mates but I have actually mucked in all this season. He does it every game but he wasn't at Brentford the week before that and I was about to get on the coach when I could suddenly see his face in my mind. So I turned round and did it.
'If he isn't there, then who is gonna do it? Coming from the academy and knowing he has put so much time and effort into me, the least I can do is carry it on. What he has done for me and my family has been wonderful.'
Johnson, 22, is a typical product of the academy system. Young and talented but also personable and with an ability to see bigger pictures.
He has become a permanent fixture in Moyes's team this season and may well be a future West Ham captain.
Speaking to Sportsmail, he has vowed to build on the habits he has picked up since joining
For now, he will concentrate on building on the habits he has picked up since joining the club at the age of seven.
'People may think I have just woken up at 22 and played in front of 60,000 but I haven't,' he tells Sportsmail.
'It's been years of hard graft and I am only at the start line. People in life come and go, don't they? They give you information and some of it sticks with you and some of it gets your back up. But you learn what to do with it. That's the beauty of life.
'There is actually a lot of respect for people within football. Wherever we go to play, we have been given a decent dressing room with everything we need. The opposition club have set it up for us and it's tidy so we have to leave it how it was when we walked in. You learn that at a club like this.'
The Hammers crashed out of the Europa League, but Johnson is targeting an instant return
When Noble takes his leave after the Premier League game against Manchester City and the trip to Brighton that follows, a little piece of West Ham will be gone for good.
Sunday will be a special day in east London but West Ham also have important points to play for.
This was an interview that could have been taking place ahead of a Europa League final next week and even though West Ham fell to Frankfurt in the semi-finals, there is a feeling at the club that this must one day be seen as a time when a journey was just beginning.
Next season, for example, the London Stadium's capacity will be increased to 62,500 and Moyes is expected to add depth to his squad.
Johnson and his team-mates - seventh in the Premier League - would dearly like to move up a spot and into the Europa
