West Ham starlet Nathan Holland might now be a permanent fixture in the first-team.
Holland trained with the West Ham senior group again after making his Premier League debut on Wednesday night. Rather than return to the U23s, Holland has been kept in the first-team group by Manuel Pellegrini.
The 21-year-old was pictured by the club’s photographer training with the rest of the group ahead of the Arsenal clash tonight. There were no other youngsters in the pictures (aside from teen goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi) but Holland got the call-up.
Nathan Holland: His time to shine?
Holland will be hoping for more game time against Arsenal tonight. He was given a 20-minute cameo against Wolverhampton Wanderers with West Ham chasing the game at Molineux.
It was 1-0 when he came on but Holland was unable to carve out any opportunities with the whole team struggling for creativity. He looked positive but will be hoping to build on that with more first-team minutes.
Pellegrini used Grady Diangana a lot last season and now he is on loan at West Brom. This could open a door for Holland, who has been scoring for fun in the U23s. He might just be the creative spark that West Ham need.
Michail Antonio is likely to return tonight so Holland might drop out of the matchday squad. If he is given his chance, he will be eager to continue impressing Pellegrini.
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