After scoring for Ireland during their UEFA Nations League win against Bulgaria, Evan Ferguson will be focused on carrying that goalscoring form into the Premier League as he looks gain a foothold in this season.
The 20-year-old has hit the back of the net only once this season and is yet to do so at his new loan club, West Ham.
When asked about his thoughts on Ferguson's international goal, West Ham boss, Graham Potter saw it as a positive step forward for the Irish striker, and reflected on Ferguson's work in training.
Forwards, it’s nice for them to score, He has been doing a lot well and we know the player he was when he came and where he was from an injury perspective and coming back from injury and game time.
It was always going to be a little bit of a patience one with him.
Going away and a different environment and a different team, just to get some minutes and to play and to score, it’s great for a forward.
He has been good in training and he has come back in a good place. He has always been ready to help the team.
He has settled in well with the group here, trains hard every day with the team and he is ready to play.
Potter was then asked if Ferguson was having a "poor loan spell" at West Ham, and the English manager believed that the comments were "unfair."
You have to see the context of where he was in terms of minutes he has played previously, how he was on his return from injury
We got him at the really early stages of that return-to-play stage. To think that you can just walk into a Premier League team and just hit the ground running and play is difficult.
But he has come on and helped us. In the last four matches we have picked up seven points and he has been part of the team and the group in that respect.
We are happy with him and I think he is enjoying his time here. He has settled in well with the team and the group and he is ready to help.
Potter was quick to defend his player, and was just as swift to acknowledge that the jump from injury back into Premier League form is not an open-and-shut case.
Though he is yet to play more than 45 minutes in a match for the London club, Ferguson's steady return to match fitness has yielded some solid performances, and following on from Potter's words, it seems that his chances will come if he continues to perform and integrate as well as he has in training.
West Ham's next match is against Wolves as they return to the Premier League on tomorrow night, Ferguson may be given the chance to follow up from his goal in the Nations League and make his mark in this season's campaign.
