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Giving Toni Martinez a first-team call-up would make it a hat-trick of good decisions from West Ham boss Slaven Bilic

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic (REUTERS)
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The teenager is worthy of a place in West Ham United’s senior side.

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has had an eventful few days, first having to deal with an unsettled Dimitri Payet and then enjoying a very impressive 3-0 victory against Crystal Palace without his French talisman.

The decision to drop Payet was the right one, as was the call to select summer signing Sofiane Feghouli from the start against the Eagles, with the Algeria international opening the scoring and putting in his best performance in a Hammers shirt.

Bilic could make it a hat-trick of great decisions with one big call: Selecting teenage striker Toni Martinez for the West Ham first-team.

The 19-year-old has been in blistering form for West Ham’s under-23 side this season, scoring 10 goals in 10 league matches and 12 in 11 in all competitions.

That is a simply remarkable strike rate for any striker, even for the second string, and Martinez thoroughly deserves a call-up to West Ham’s senior side and a place on the bench at the least.

West Ham United's Sofiane Feghouli hugs West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic after being sent off

It is easy to overlook a player for being young, but sometimes they make it impossible for you to ignore them for long and Martinez must surely be wondering what else he has to do to get Bilic’s attention.

The West Ham boss has got a lot right a few times in the last few days, and giving Martinez a call-up would be another to add to the list.