Saturday 25 April 2015 22:52, UK
West Ham midfielder Stewart Downing is backing Reece Burke to have a big future in the game after the 18-year-old made his Premier League debut in the goalless draw with QPR.
Burke was up against Bobby Zamora and Charlie Austin but coped well throughout, and Downing was impressed.
“I think the manager has said before that it’s hard to put a young lad in when we’re not doing well and the confidence in the team is not good,” he said.
“You’d like to put him in when we’re doing well but he’s waited a long time for his chance. He’s done well for the youth team and he’s travelled with us a lot of times and not been involved.
“I thought he was absolutely brilliant today he was up against two experienced strikers. Bobby Zamora has had a really good season and Charlie Austin has scored almost every other game.
“I thought he played really, really well. I thought he handled them really well and he was man of the match for me. We know we can depend on him now and the manager knows he can put him in at any time home or away and he’ll do a job.
“That was a big performance from him today and he’ll be a big player for the future and you need people like that coming through.”
Goalkeeper Adrian was West Ham’s other hero, saving a first-half penalty from Austin.
“The fans love him and the lads really appreciate him,” Downing said. “He’s made some big saves this season and he got my vote for player of the season.
“We’ve still got four games to go and if we get a couple of wins we can finish the season off on a high. We’ve had a dip but all teams have dips. We’re obviously disappointed because it went on for a long time but if we have a good end to the season, finish in the top 10, then it will have been a good season all round.”
Sam Allardyce’s future as manager remains up in the air, with no word out of the club as to whether he will still be in place at the start of next season.
Downing insists the squad is united behind him.
“We want him here. The players obviously love playing for him,” he said. “He’s a good manager to play for and he’s been really good to me. I like him but I don’t make the decisions - that’s up to the chairmen and how they see it going forward. Hopefully he stays.”
