Keiber Lamadrid in line for West Ham debut vs Burton, six other youngsters named to be in squad
Nuno Espirito Santo is reportedly set to hand Keiber Lamadrid his West Ham debut against Burton.
According to a report from The West Ham Way on Saturday morning, Nuno is expected to include Lamadrid in the squad for West Ham‘s FA Cup fourth round tie with Burton.
It’s also reported that six other youngsters: Finlay Herrick, Josh Briggs, Lewis Orford, Josh Ajala, Mohamadou Kante and Ezra Mayers are all going to be involved in the matchday squad too.
Nuno looks to be using the match as a prime opportunity to rest and rotate his first-team stars, having only just played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Tuesday night.
The fourth round clash in Staffordshire gets underway at 12:15pm on Saturday afternoon, and the 21st-placed side in League One will be hoping to cause one of the shocks of this year’s competition so far.
Why Keiber Lamadrid must take Burton opportunity
With Lamadrid set to make his senior West Ham debut against Burton, it’s crucial that the Venezuelan international takes the opportunity with both hands.
Signed by West Ham in the winter window on loan until the end of the season, the Hammers do have the option to make the deal with Deportivo La Guaira permanent in the summer.
Up to now, the versatile winger has been restricted to a lone outing for West Ham’s Under-21s against Middlesbrough on 2 February, in which he scored a superb left-footed goal from the edge of the Boro box.
However, already 22-years old, the midfielder isn’t destined for academy football for much longer, and he does have over 100 first-team appearances for Deportivo La Guaira under his belt.
As such, West Ham need to feel confident that he can be a first-team player for them in the near future if they are to turn his loan stay into a permanent one, and so chances such as the one he’s primed for against Burton are vitally important.
- Read more: Nuno Espirito Santo will surely give West Ham fans first look at winter signing vs Burton
What can Lamadrid expect against Burton’s defence?
What better test for a young player to see if they can swim in English football than to throw them into an old-school FA Cup tie against lower-league opposition on a freezing cold afternoon?
Well, if Lamadrid is to start or even get on the pitch on Saturday, that’s exactly what he’ll be walking into against Burton.
But, if he’s confident and up for the challenge, then he could find plenty of opportunities to flash his quality, as the Brewers have conceded 45 times in 30 League One games this season.
Gary Bowyer’s side have conceded two goals in each of their last five league games, and so they do have a leaky defence that West Ham can feed on.
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