David Moyes believes Jarrod Bowen should be back in the England squad this week after his fifth goal of the season helped sink Sheffield United 2-0.
Gareth Southgate names his next squad on Thursday ahead of a friendly against Australia and the Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy.
Bowen, who earned four caps last year, was overlooked for the September internationals but Moyes feels his current form makes him hard to ignore.
“I would say Jarrod is as close now as he has ever been,” said Moyes.
“He’s in really good form, quick, sharp and looks like he can do a lot of things.
“I’m not going to pick the England team, but to play for England you have to be able to score in big games. Jarrod’s doing great for us.”
Bowen grabbed his goal after 24 minutes, timing his run into the box to perfection and burying Vladimir Coufal’s low cross.
Tomas Soucek added the second after he was slipped in by Michail Antonio as West Ham all but sewed up a comfortable victory before half-time.
“I liked what I saw in the first half. The first goal was brilliantly worked. There were lots of good things, but not so much in the second half,” added Moyes.
“I wanted us to score more goals but a lot of credit has to go to Sheffield United and their manager after a tough week and a big defeat. But ultimately we got the goals and the win.
“It’s three points in the Premier League and when you look at some of the results today, it shows you can’t just turn up and get three points.”
The Blades did at least improve on their 8-0 defeat at home by Newcastle six days earlier, not that they could have been any worse.
Their boss, Paul Heckingbottom, maintains they can still pick up enough points to stay up.
“We’ll see. I believe it,” he said. “If you look at our games we’ve not lost because other teams are far better, we’ve lost because of key moments. There’s evidence there that we can get the points.
“Results like last week happen. There’s been some surprising ones today. What I didn’t like was the nature of some of the things I saw, I was adamant it was a one-off and I don’t want to see again.
“No one’s going to feel sorry for us. We have to fight for those points.”
