Callum McNaughton made his AFC Wimbledon debut on earlier this month against Aldershot after joining the League two club on loan from the Hammers.
After being sent off against the same opponents in the League Cup for the Hammers last month, the 19-year-old is keen to impress enough to have a future Upton Park. “West Ham is my home, that is where I want to be” McNaughton told the Hounslow, Heston and Whitton Chronicle. “I am feeling very positive about my future. If I keep working hard and playing well here then hopefully I will get another first-team chance at West Ham.”
Sam Allardyce fielded a very strong and experienced side in that Carling Cup first round game but showed faith in the youngster to join the likes of Kevin Nolan, George McCartney and John Carew in the side. Although his unfortunate sending off in the second half, McNaughton was impressive in the time he was on the pitch and won numerous important headers and challenges at the heart of Irons defence.
West Ham’s best player in the opening games of the season has been James Tomkins, another product of the Hammers academy and a player that McNaughton will want to emulate in gaining a first team place at Upton Park.
The young defender signed a new deal at West Ham in the summer so the club believes he is worth hanging on to and it is now up to him to prove them right.
With a shortage of central defenders at the club, and a long tradition of bringing through youngsters there is a huge chance that McNaughton will be seen in a West Ham shirt in years to come but for now has to concentrate on AFC Wimbledon and impressing there but definitely one to watch for the future.
