Anton Ferdinand sends 13-word Josh Ajala message after West Ham milestone
West Ham United's Carabao Cup win over Southampton was a night Josh Ajala will never forget.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side had to show character at St Mary's, after going a goal down inside the opening 10 minutes.
The response he got from his players was emphatic, with the Hammers running out eventual 4-1 winners.
Nuno took the opportunity to rest some key senior stars and dish out some minutes to young players against Saints, to which most took.
However, the star of the show was undoubtedly Ajala, who scored twice before being withdrawn on the hour mark.
It could mark the start of a glittering Irons career, and one Hammers academy great has acknowledged that.
What did Anton Ferdinand say to Josh Ajala?
After coming off the bench deep into added-time against Portsmouth, Ajala would earn his first senior minute as a West Ham player.
But with Southampton providing Nuno with another chance to alter his side in the Carabao Cup, Ajala was given his full competitive West Ham debut.
Taking to his Instagram on Wednesday night, the 19-year-old marked the occasion and his performance with a series of images of himself from Tuesday night.
He captioned it by saying: "Happy to score a brace on my first start! Philippians 4:13."
In the replies underneath, West Ham academy icon Anton Ferdinand made it clear he thinks Ajala is a player who can go right to the top.
"Well done you! Head down and keep working this is just the start!!!"
So, just how good were Ajala's underlying numbers against Southampton, and do they suggest he'll be undroppable for Watford?
Where does Ajala need to improve based on Southampton display?
Southampton was certainly a big step forwards on Ajala's road to first-team stardom with West Ham, but he'll know he's not made it yet.
Regardless of relegation, this is still a starting XI that's very tough to break into, especially in attack.
And whilst he was excellent on Tuesday night and bagged his brace, his underlying numbers show where the improvements are to be made.
Per FotMob, he wasn't able to create any chances for his teammates, whilst he also was inaccurate with both of his two cross attempts.
Ajala was dispossessed twice, which in fairness, is naturally going to happen when you're an aggressive wide player, so that's no real concern.
However, he did only win two of his four ground duels, so perhaps some focus on being stronger in his individual battles is something to work on.
But at 19, again, that's likely to improve naturally with time.
So, if he can become more consistent with his final ball and find some more accuracy with his crossing, Ajala will become a fantastic all-round creative forward.
Manor Solomon is likely to retake his place for the trip to Watford on Saturday, but Ajala's Southampton showing won't make that an easy decision for Nuno.