Journalist Joshua Mbu has called for West Ham midfielder Flynn Downes to start domestically following his display against FCSB.

The Hammers had to come from a goal down after a sluggish opening 45 minutes and they responded in the second period scoring three times to secure an opening day victory in the UEFA Europa Conference League victory.

Having started both qualifiers for the tournament, summer signing and lifelong Irons fan Downes returned to the starting line-up and put in an assured performance.

He posted a 7.3 SofaScore match rating, second only to Emerson (7.5) among his teammates who started the game.

The Championship’s most accurate passer last season (92.6%) was at his conductive best at the London Stadium making the second most passes in the side with a 91% completion rate as well as ranking second for key passes with three.

Hailed as ‘incredible’ and a player who ‘does the dirty work’ by his former boss Russel Martin, Downes also showed his ability off the ball by winning six of his eight duels, making three tackles and one interception (SofaScore).

His performance led Mbu to take to Twitter and post this comment: ‘Downes should start against Newcastle. Goodnight’

While the Newcastle game has been postponed, the Welshman has certainly given David Moyes to think about and considering the midfielder appeared to be struggling with the step up at first with his new manager unconvinced it certainly is refreshing to see the 23-year-old put in such an accomplished performance.