Reece Burke and Josh Cullen will definitely be in the West Ham United matchday squad against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday, having impressed David Moyes and his coaching team since returning to the squad.
Burke and Cullen spent the first half of the season on loan with Championship side Bolton Wanderers but returned to the Hammers at the start of January, with the duo playing in the away tie against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup third round.
The pair are certain to be involved in Tuesday’s replay, according to coaching assistant Alan Irvine, with the two 21-year-olds proving themselves to the West Ham coaches since their return from the loan spell.
“They’re definitely in the squad,” Irvine said on the duo, “The team will be picked on Tuesday once we’ve taken full account of all the bumps. We wanted them to come back, and we needed them to come back because of the situation prior to the first game.
They're definitely in the squad. The two of them have impressed us since they've been back.
Alan Irvine
“The two of them have impressed us since they’ve been back.”
The Hammers coach also indicated that the duo could go back on loan before the end of the January transfer window if senior players in the side recovered from fitness.
He continued: “We don’t want to stop their development either. If we feel they won’t get sufficient time for us, and we can afford to do it because senior players will be involved instead, we will look at that.
“The boys are aware we aren’t going to keep them here and sit them in the stands.”
Irvine also offered an update on Reece Oxford, revealing the 19-year-old trained on Monday, having suffered an ankle injury upon his return from Borussia Monchengladbach.
The coaching assistant is looking forward to watching Oxford play for West Ham in the coming games, describing the youngster’s knock as a ‘freak injury’.
He said: “Since he’s [Reece] come back he’s only actually trained with us twice. For some unknown reason, he decided to kick the ground and he hurt his ankle. I was joking with him and said: ‘why did you do that?’
“He was just a little bit off balance, went to strike the ball, caught the ground and hurt his ankle. It was a freak injury really and it’s one that’s been niggling him a bit. He has trained with us on Monday. I’m really looking forward to seeing him play at some point.”