West Ham could finally hand a start to January signing Jarrod Bowen against Southampton on Saturday, according to former Premier League attacker Kevin Phillips.
Bowen has had to wait to make his first start, with David Moyes only handing him opportunities from the bench against Manchester City and Liverpool.
The winger joined from Hull City in the January window, making the move on deadline day for a fee of over £20 million.
Speaking to Football Insider, Phillips revealed that he thinks Saturday could finally be the day where Bowen makes his full debut for the Hammers.
It is not going to be long before Moyes starts him in a game. Saturday could be the one with Antonio and Snodgrass having had tough games against Manchester City and Liverpool.
He could have scored (against Liverpool) and should have scored but perhaps delayed it a little bit.
We have seen it already this season at Hull, he gets into goalscoring positions and West Ham certainly need players who can put the ball in the back of the net.
I expect him to have more game time between now and the end of the season.
Read West Ham verdict
In our view, Moyes simply has to start Bowen against the Saints on Saturday, especially with the Hammers finally getting a winnable game to play him in.
The attacker showed glimpses what he could do in his first two appearances for West Ham, but was only given 16 minutes, which obviosuily limited his impact at both Anfield and the Etihad.
Bowen scored 16 goals for Hull earlier this season before making the switch to West Ham, and Moyes could really do with a player who can hit the back of the net to help ease the difficult situation the Hammers currently find themselves in.
