Silva – scored on his return

Exciting under 23s prospect Xande Silva waved goodbye to a miserable near 12 months with a goal on his return to action  as the lads beat Sunderland 4-2 in the north east yesterday.

The 22 year old came off the bench for the second half and added a fabulous goal via great control and a fearsome shot to announce his return in very special style.

Earlier despite him showing some bright touches, having one fizzing effort from range beaten away early on, Sunderland’s second of the game meant that the Hammers entered the final ten minutes of Sunday’s Premier League 2 Division 2 game trailing.

Mesaque Dju’s brilliant guided finish hauled them level – and then Silva turned on the style with his outstanding effort .

And after netting he was thrilled to talk about a contribution which has come at the  end of a long and serious spell of sickness when he suffered a bowel obstruction.

Commenting afterwards Silva beamed. “I’ve had a tough last year, but I’m delighted to be here now with my teammates.

“I need to thank everyone who was involved in helping me over the last year. I need to thank him [Tom Smith – head medic], all the medical staff and all the staff at West Ham, because it’s hard when a player’s injured and not, every day, in a good mood.

“I also need to thank all the players around me. I’m here now, and I’m very happy.”

He added: “It was a good game. Of course, it was hard for me because it was my first game after six or seven months of being out, but that spell has gone. Now, I only think about the present and future. I’m here to help the team.”

“I just need to enjoy the game and enjoy the life of a footballer again.”

There were some who were seriously worried about Silva’s future in the game but his dedication and the hard work ofthe medical team has put his career right back on track and all of us at ClaretandHugh wish him the very best for the future.