Is he ready for a more permanent role at West Ham?

There has always been little doubting the footballing ability of Ravel Morrison.

A player who received such huge acclaim from coaches at Manchester United was always likely to be a gifted individual. However, he was equally criticised for his apparent self-destructive tendencies.

When he was signed by West Ham, hopes were high for the now 20-year-old, but sensibly he was loaned out last season to Birmingham City to gain first team experience

After somewhat of an inauspicious start, he went on to earn praise from The Blues manager Lee Clark, who admitted he would have liked to have taken him back for another year.

It was that schooling which appears to have settled him professionally, enabling him to come into the West Ham team for the League Cup fixtures.

His energetic displays have meant he has been given his chance at the highest level, and his introduction has been one of the highlights for the Hammers in recent weeks.

He gets the ball down, runs at players, takes a shot, and has a rawness that defies the ridged structure imposed by Sam Allardyce.

It’s clear he’s not the finished article, but the new dimension he offers the team is refreshing and exciting.

Injuries to more senior players such as Joe Cole and Stewart Downing have opened up a position in midfield. I’m not sure Morrison could have done much more to secure that spot.

The manager has always claimed he picks on performance, and players have to earn their way into the starting XI. For the squad, the competition has to been seen as a positive, and if there are two England internationals pushing Morrison for his place, it will hopefully bring even more out of the youngster.

It has been well documented how short we are on strikers, but in all honesty, the attacking options are there. If we can get those player performing through healthy competition, we should be able to negate the deficiencies up front better than we have done.

This is the time for Morrison to take his chance, back up the hype, and make a name for himself for the right footballing reasons.