Former West Ham United striker Dean Ashton feels Mark Noble is being held back.

Ashton believes Noble has more to offer.

He told whufc.com: "I have seen quite a bit of West Ham and what I do like is that they've given Mark Noble a bit more freedom. He's been stuck in a defensive midfield role, playing out from the back which is great and he does that really well, but he's actually a better player than that.

“He's already shown in the few games that we've seen that he and Cheikhou Kouyate have been given licence, one at a time, to be able to go and join in – Kouyate with his power and strength and running and then Nobes with his creative side.

“I'm pleased he has been given the chance to get forward as much as possible and what has also been great has been Payet come in and he's going to produce goals as well. When you've got one up front, you need your midfield players to produce goals and score goals and that's really encouraging."