West Ham United have announced that Under-23 striker Toni Martinez will join League One Oxford United on loan until the end of the season.

A great opportunity

The Spaniard has impressed at the club since signing from Valencia back in July 2016, and has come on leaps and bounds in Terry Westley's side.

He has managed twelve goals in 13 competitive appearances for the Premier League 2 side, and joins the likes of Marcus Browne, Josh Cullen, Martin Samuelsen, George Dobson and Alex Pike on loan to gain some first-team experience and shared his delight at his move to the Kassam Stadium.

“This is a great opportunity at a very good club," Martinez told oufc.co.uk. "It is an important step for me and one I am really looking forward to.”

Oxford currently sit eight points outside the play-off spaces, and coach Michael Appleton sees Martinez as a great singing to help push for the play-off's in the final leg of the season.

"It’s an exciting signing," he said. "He has a terrific scoring record and is very highly thought of at West Ham."

"So it is great that clubs think of Oxford United," the coach stated. "As a club where we help nurture talented young footballers and help their development."

Appleton concluded: “He will certainly add some serious competition for us at the top of the pitch.”

Working hard

In terms of the Hammers senior side, Slaven Bilic's men managed to make two consecutive league victories at the weekend. As they looked to build on their win over Crystal Palace with their trip to Teeside.

Goals from Andy Carroll and Jonathan Calleri gave them a comfortable 3-1 win over Middlesbrough, and defender Winston Reid praised the hard work of the side.

“You know when you go away from home in the Premier League," Reid told whufc.com. "You are going to come under pressure at some stage of the game and we did."

"But I thought we defended well,” the defender stated. “It was important for us to beat teams around us like Palace and now Boro."

"It’s a boost to be in the top ten," the New Zealand international admitted. "We started the season poorly and weren’t playing the best."

"So we had to work harder for each other," Reid Concluded. "The results have come – it’s not rocket science.”

West Ham will take on Manchester City at the London Stadium on Wednesday, February 1 with kick-off at 7:45pm BST.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.