Give Silva game time

West Ham can be grateful for the Terry Westley legacy as they look towards the next season when  along with most clubs will be one where the club’s youth products could be of immense value.

Among those we can now look to as followers in the Declan Rice and Grady Diangana footsteps  are Ben Johnson, Jeremy Ngakia, Conor Coventry, Nathan Holland and perhaps the most exciting of them all – Xande Silva

The young Poruguese striker showed enormous guts last season when overcoming serious bowel surgery before returning to under 23 action before the enforced break.

He made three starts and scored and provided an assist against Sunderland, and goals against Stoke and Norwich.

Give him time once the game gets underway again and he could become part of the the answer to the issue we have up front where the club are looking to find a new front man in the window.

Despite his serious health issues showed enormous courage and although it’s obviously too early to expect him to provide the total answer  I really hope that when pre-season does FINALLY come around the 23 year old is included in the first team squad.

He has regularly been seen as one of our most exciting youngsters and with the Irons looking for a front man this season I want to believe – and don’t believe I’ll be disappointed – in seeing the young man pushing hard for first team recognition.