Declan Rice has been showing off the scars of battle on his Instagram account.

And they appear to demonstrate how tough training has become at Rush Green this week as the Hammers go in pursuit of their first win of the season at Everton on Sunday.

He received some nasty scarring after mixing it with Issa Diop on the training pitch but they don’t look anything like serious enough to keep him out of the action at Goodison Park if selected.

He has since removed the image but not before it emerged in the form of a screen shot with the accompanying message on Twitter “Thank you my friend @issa_diop_05.”

The teenager is desperate to break back into the first team and is widely expected to become Carlos Sanchez’s partner in front of the back four.