West Ham United starlet Ashley Fletcher has said that he is "looking forward" to Sunday's return to his former club Manchester United.

'Show what I can do'

Fletcher was one of the hottest talents in recent history of the United academy, but failed to make a senior appearance for the Red Devils.

The 21-year-old got to show his talents when he was loaned out to Barnsley in January of this year, scoring five goals on the club's return to the Championship.

The striker signed for the Hammers this summer and has impressed with his performances under the watch of Slaven Bilic. This will be the first time that he has gone back to his former side, and he said that he's relishing a return to familiar surroundings.

“I am looking forward to going back to Old Trafford for the first time," Fletcher told whufc.com. "It will be great to meet up with a number of old friends."

“I spent the majority of my youth career at Manchester United," the youngster stated. "And learned a great deal during my time there so it will be good go back and show what I can do."

“Last week was disappointing," the 21-year-old admitted. "Because there were only a few minutes left on the clock and we were unable to hold onto the victory."

Fletcher concluded: “It now makes it even more important for us to get something out of the game at Old Trafford.”

Playing against the biggest teams

The Hammers face a tough few weeks, taking on Jose Mourinho's side in both the league and EFL Cup in the coming days, with Arsenal and Liverpool following on from there.

Confidence in Bilic's camp will be low after last week's bitter 3-2 defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but one of the bright sparks to take from the game was the performance of Manuel Lanzini.

The Argentine put the Hammers 2-1 ahead at White Hart Lane from the penalty spot, and insisted that he is looking forward to performing well against some of the countries best teams in the coming weeks.

“It will be a very difficult game, Manchester United are a big team," he said. "So we know it will be difficult but we are confident that the result is going to be positive."

“I am really looking forward to the game," the Argentine stated. "As a player you always want to play against the biggest teams and test yourself – our game on Sunday is definitely one of those games.”

“The most important thing is to get points," Lanzini concluded. "Once the wins start coming in, we can concentrate on league positions and aiming specific targets.”

West Ham United will take on Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, November 27 with kick-off at 4:30pm BST.

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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.