West Ham have kept young starlet Reece Oxford away from first team football in order to develop him for the rigours of the Premier League, the club has revealed.

Oxford made his top-flight debut at the tend age of 16 years and 236 days in the Hammers' opening day win over Arsenal, but has seen limited first team action since.

"Reece Oxford has had some significant development over the last few weeks," West Ham's head of medical Stijn Vandenbroucke told West Ham's official website.

"We have been working with him to prepare him for the demands of the Premier League.

"He is obviously a big talent and it is my responsibility to protect him, along with the responsibility of the manager, who is fully on board with how we are managing Reece."