Reece Burke wants to make it as difficult as possible for David Moyes NOT to keep him at the club when he returns to Wigan tomorrow..
The young defender, who spent last season on loan with the Latics, scored the Hammers’ extra-time winner in their 1-0 third-round replay victory over Shrewsbury Town at London Stadium.
Ahead of the game he said: “Hopefully I’ll get some more minutes under my belt. I don’t know what the manager will do with the team, but we have got a few injuries and obviously, having played in the two other FA Cup games against Shrewsbury, I hope to get another opportunity.
“I played at right-back in the first game, then centre-half in the replay, and we kept two clean sheets which I was really happy with. To also score the winner in extra-time was obviously a good moment for me too.
“It’s always good to nick a goal as a centre-half, but obviously that won’t be the first thing that comes to mind if I play on Saturday, as that will be defending and trying to stop them. We’ll try and get a clean sheet first and, if I get another chance to score, I’ll try to take it!”
Along with fellow Academy graduate Josh Cullen, who also impressed in the two ties with Shrewsbury, Burke was recalled from a loan spell at Championship club Bolton Wanderers earlier this month and could go back at the end of the window..
He said: “It’s a bit different here than at Bolton, I’d say. It’s a slightly different game and it took me a little while to get used to it again, but the more you train and hang around with the lads, the more you learn about how they train.
“I feel I am up to speed now and am feeling quite sharp. I don’t know if it’s my time yet to play week-in, week-out in the Premier League, but, if not, loan football is where I need to be to playing regularly and developing and trying to reach that.”