West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola says Frank Nouble is in his thoughts this season.

Just turned 18, Nouble is still eligible for the FA Youth Cup but has impressed in training with the first team all season and at 6'3 looks physically ready for the rigours of the top flight.

Zola told whufc.com: "Frank is still a young player. He has been playing reserve-team games but you have to play him at the right time. You don't have to give him too many responsibilities. We need people that have experience because I don't want him to be affected by our situation.

"I will play him at the right time. He is one of my options but Zavon had more experience before we played him. He has a couple of goals in the cup and played against Millwall this season. I didn't pick Zavon for the game against Liverpool off the cuff. He had played more games and he trained with me all last season as well."