Toni Martinez has a bright future at West Ham but he won't be in the squad yet says, Slaven Bilic

Slaven Bilic says he understands West Ham fans calling to see more of their youth prospects in the first team squads, but that at the moment there simply isn’t the room.

With the first team under increasing pressure to secure results ahead of their Premier League clash with Liverpool this weekend, a number of younger talents have been impressing in the youth ranks.

Spanish striker Toni Martinez, who has eight goals in the Premier League 2 this season and bagged a brace in a 3-1 Checkatrade Trophy win over Bristol Rovers this week, is catching the eye of many Hammers fans.

However, while the striker – who arrived from Valencia for £2.7m in 2016 – is impressing Bilic, the Croatian has a number of senior strikers to consider before allowing Martinez a chance.

“Toni Martinez again proved he has a bright future by scoring twice for the Under-23s as they reached the Checkatrade Trophy knockout stage,” Bilic wrote in his Standard Sport column.

“Some of our fans would like him in our squad and I understand that.

“I also want young players to succeed. But we have Andre Ayew in good form, Chicharito scored last week, Andy Carroll is again a valuable player for us and Diafra Sakho is fit again.”

Read Slaven Bilic’s exclusive Standard Sport column in full here.