West Ham United boss Alan Curbishley intends to give his top kids a chance in the remainder of this season.

Curbishley maintains the likes of England Under-19 striker Freddie Sears and defender James Tomkins, 18, can expect to soon get a taste of first-team action, like fellow youth product Jack Collison who came off the bench against Arsenal on New Year's Day.

"I will not be fazed about putting some of the young boys in but the time must be right," the West Ham boss maintained.

"Sears and Tomkins have been training with us for the past six weeks. They are slowly being introduced to it all.

"I have not got a problem putting them in. They have impressed me a lot.

"We know that young players get stifled quite a bit trying to break into the first team in the Premier League, so we will see what happens over the next nine games."