West Ham United boss Alan Curbishley insists fit-again Dean Ashton will get his chance.

"Dean had a big injury which kept him out for a year. Everyone wants everything now and sometimes when you have had that lay-off it is not always so easy," said Curbishley.

"But we know what we have got in Dean Ashton. It is just a question of him plugging on, working at it hard in training and the sharpness has got to come back.

"As a team we haven't been playing so well, we haven't created too many chances or scored too many goals ourselves and it has been difficult for the boys up front.

"The midfield and the front boys have got to start contributing.

"The back five have done well but in the last four or five games we have not been prolific. We have got to ask them to contribute a bit more, and the same goes for Deano."

Ashton has also been asked to form an unnatural striker partnership with Carlton Cole and they have not struck upon the right formula with any consistency.

The presence of two physical strikers has also affected the way West Ham play and goes the footballing traditions of the club.

"They are very similar in their attributes - both attacking the same ball - and perhaps they haven't been that compatible," said Curbishley.

"My big complaint after the Birmingham draw was that when we weren't winning with 25 minutes to go we started to panic and it was one touch and then the long ball forward. That wasn't us."