West Ham boss Graham Potter believes criticism of Evan Ferguson’s loan spell is unfair and feels the forward is in a good place after scoring on international duty.
Ferguson ended a four-month goal drought with a crucial equaliser for Ireland in their 2-1 victory over Bulgaria on March 23rd.
The 20-year-old referenced the need to ignore outside noise after he came under fire for his form following a temporary switch to West Ham, where he has been restricted to five cameo appearances off the bench, but Potter defended the Brighton loanee ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Wolves.
“Yeah with forwards it’s nice for them to score,” Potter said.
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“He’s been doing a lot well and we know the place he was when he came, with where he was from an injury perspective, coming back from an [ankle] injury and game time.
“It was always going to be a patient one with him, but going away, a different environment, a different team, just to get some minutes to play and score, it’s great for a forward.
“He’s been good in training and yeah he’s come back in a good place. He’s always been ready to help the team and settled in well with the group.
“From our perspective that [criticism] is unfair to be honest. You have to see the context of where he was in terms of the minutes he’s played previously and how he was on his return from injury.
“We got him at the really early stages of the return-to-play stage, so to think you can just walk into a Premier League team and hit the ground running and play, that is difficult but he’s come on, he’s helped us and the last four matches we’ve picked up seven points.
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“He’s been part of the team and group in that respect, so we’re happy with him. I think he is enjoying his time here, settled in well and is ready to help.”
Ferguson will be pushing for more minutes at Wolves where West Ham will have Germany forward Niclas Fullkrug available again after a hamstring injury.
Potter added: “Fullkrug has been training with the group and will more than likely be in the squad.
“We just need to build his minutes up in terms of what he’s able to do. He hasn’t played competitive football for a while and has had fairly significant injuries, but he’s training well and building up fitness.”
