After a loan spell away, James Tomkins was delighted to start for West Ham in their FA Cup victory over Barnsley.

The young defender told whufc.com: "The gaffer has obviously encouraged me a lot since he's been here and given me the confidence to play and be confident. I think you can see that in the way I'm playing at the moment. I've improved little by little through the information that he's given me.

"He's started me now which was brilliant for me, as was him bringing me back from loan. I enjoyed it against Barnsley and now I need to push on from here.

"Steve (Clarke) has had a lot of experience playing for Chelsea. He brings that experience to the team. He's played under so many good managers at Chelsea and he uses that which is good for people like me. If he spots something that you need to improve, he tells you, and that's good because obviously you want to improve as a player."