Mark Noble ‘loves’ Daniel Cummings and West Ham kid’s stunning Anderlecht winner shows why

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Mark Noble could hardly have been more glowing in his assessment of Daniel Cummings when West Ham United signed the Scottish starlet from Celtic last summer.

And the goal he scored in the 1-0 victory over Anderlecht on Wednesday night – Greg Lincoln’s Under-21s finally recording their first Premier League International Cup win of the season at the fourth attempt – goes some way to explaining why Daniel Cummings arrived amid such excitement.

Club legend and sporting director Mark Noble called Cummings ‘the sort of player I love’ when his move south of Hadrian’s Wall was confirmed in July.

The Glasgow-born 19-year-old, Noble added, ‘works hard, he’s aggressive and he has a big presence’.

He’s also a pretty useful finisher, as you might have guessed considering his record in the green and white Hoops.

Cummings scored 39 goals in 62 games for Celtic’s B team. His second in the claret and blue of West Ham United was enough to see off Belgian giants Anderlecht and their ‘world-famous academy’ at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Daniel Cummings fires West Ham United to Premier League International Cup win over Anderlecht

Cummings only made his first West Ham U21 start in December. A shoulder injury he suffered very early in his Hammers career had largely kept him on the sidelines until then. Cummings was forced to watch on as fellow Scot Josh Landers racked up the goals in his place.

But, with ex-Hibernian starlet Landers yet to hit the target in Premier League 2 since his 17-minute hat-trick against Brighton in September, Cummings may fancy his chances of establishing himself as Lincoln’s go-to number nine.

A lethal left-footed strike nearly sent the Anderlecht net into the Thames, such was the power and the precision with which he struck it following some excellent work in the midfield from Tyron Akpata.

For those who were waiting to see what Mark Noble was going all giddy about, this felt like a ‘welcome to West Ham’ moment for Cummings.

Greg Lincoln happy with Hammers victory despite bottom-of-the-table finish

Following defeats against Athletic Bilbao, Sporting Lisbon and Borussia Dortmund – Cummings opened his account against the German giants – this was the first time Lincoln had tasted victory in the Premier League International Cup.

Unfortunately, that Anderlecht victory comes too late for a side who finish rock-bottom in Group D.

“We spoke before with the players about this togetherness that I think epitomises all West Ham teams,” Lincoln tells the club’s official website. “We asked the more experienced players to show their leadership and their experience, which I think they did.

“And the younger players, to be fearless, brave and front-footed. I think, to a man, starters and finishers, they all showed that in abundance this evening.

“I think it’s all part of the players’ journey when you talk about learning to deal with set pieces and bridging that gap into senior football. There’s an element of structure and organisation, of course, but the real detail is in the individual tactics, recognising the strengths you have against your opponent, how to use your body, having the desire to go and head the ball.

“We’ve worked a lot on that on the training pitch and we’ll continue to do so. I thought we were really resilient with our defending this evening, to a man.”

West Ham face Burton in the FA Cup in a chance for Nuno’s youngsters

Nuno Espirito Santo could shuffle his pack when West Ham face third-tier Burton Albion in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday. Cummings is an outside bet to be involved, though the likes of Mohamadou Kante and Keiber Lamadrid will hope to make full debuts at the Pirelli Stadium.

“Anderlecht, as we know, have a world-famous academy. They’ve produced lots of players who’ve gone on to play in the Premier League and had very successful careers, so we knew it was going to be a challenge,” adds Lincoln.

“I thought our boys showed real maturity. We recognised the conditions and that it was a different type of game. You could see that we dominated first contacts and second balls, got ourselves into really good areas and, on another night, could have scored more goals.”