West Ham boss David Moyes says the club have "high hopes" for Mipo Odubeko.
The 18-year old Tallaght native made his senior debut for the Hammers on Monday night when he was sprung from the bench in their FA Cup 3rd round win at Stockport.
A combination of injury to Michail Antonio and Sebastien Haller's sale to Ajax have seen Odubeko bumped up Moyes' pecking order of strikers.
"He is somebody we are looking forward to working with," Moyes said ahead of Burnley's visit to the London Stadium, "But the real facts are he pulled his hamstring about four months ago and he has been out for three months with that.
"We've also had several different things where we have had to shut the academy down, with people isolating and things.
"This is not just our club but all clubs at the moment are finding it difficult to introduce their young players.
"But I have to say he is a young player we have big hopes for, but I think a lot of young players at this moment have struggled because of the lack of regular training and the continued breakup of the academy, without regular games at the moment because of the situation we are in.
"And also with Mipo, has just back from a long-term hamstring injury but we like him a lot and we'll try and bring him along at the right time and when we need him."
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