Bilic may hand Rice his debut

U23s captain Declan Rice could make his first-team debut at Burnley on Sunday.

Slaven Bilic revealed this morning that with Winston Reid injured the Republic of Ireland U21 defender could get his big call-up.

The 18-year-old led the Hammers’ U23 side to promotion via a thrilling Play-Off victory at Newcastle United on Tuesday evening.

And Bilic said: “We’re going to see. We have a game on Sunday and we have many injuries, but he’s one of them that may play. He’s in the squad.

“Declan is very good for his age. He is extremely good, he is mature and it’s all based on the training and he plays very well for the Under-23s. He has a bright future in him and it’s all down to him.

“He played a couple of games in the pre-season when we went to the States and we were missing a few players. I can see him being a really good player.”