West Ham United have high hopes for Scotland Under 21 right-back Harrison Ashby forging a regular role in their first-team squad in the future, according to football.london.
The Irons have long earmarked the 19-year-old to eventually have a future in the senior fold at the London Stadium. He made his first-team breakthrough last term, with David Moyes debuting the academy graduate in the Carabao Cup.
Ashby followed his second-round cameo in the closing stages against Charlton Athletic with a first start in the third-round. The youngster played 70-minutes of the 5-1 rout of Hull City before Moyes had to replace him following a clattering tackle from Brandon Fleming.
Ashby has not featured for the West Ham first-team since starting the Hull tie at the London Stadium last September. Moyes also only listed the teenager among his substitutes on one occasion, but overlooked him as the Irons lost 4-1 at Everton in the EFL Cup fourth-round.
U23s boss Dmitri Halajko has started Ashby in all three of West Ham’s PL2 games so far this season. He additionally assisted Mipo Odubeko’s opener in a 4-2 loss to Brighton and scored the late stoppage-time winner over Chelsea.
The 98th-minute strike at Victoria Road marked Ashby’s first goal in 14 appearances for the Hammers’ U23s. The attack-minded full-back had previously scored two in 23 U18s fixtures, and has now offered four U23 assists.
Moyes will likely continue to monitor Ashby’s youth-level performances in view of further first-team chances. The West Ham website notes the academy product, who joined aged nine, first impressed the Scot with his U23s efforts last summer before earning his debut.
West Ham have a ‘tremendous’ talent in Ashby
Ashby will hope to make amends at West Ham in 2021/22 after missing much of last season with a serious knee injury. The full-back’s lack of game time stinted his progression after a solid start to the season returned a first-team debut.
Moyes is unlikely to afford the teenager a second senior start when the Irons begin their latest Carabao Cup campaign. Having been drawn to face Manchester United, they will need to field a strong XI. But further chances could follow if they win at Old Trafford.
Ashby showed his potential against Hull with a confident display and could have scored in the 11th-minute. He has also impressed the Scotland youth set-up, with U21 boss Scot Gemmill full of praise last month.
“He’s a tremendous prospect, who is really highly-regarded at West Ham,” Gemmill said, via The Herald.
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