The four West Ham academy players who joined first…

The four West Ham academy players who joined first team training before Derby County FA Cup tie

Four of West Ham United’s academy players have been pictured in first-team training ahead of the FA Cup clash against Derby County.

The Hammers head to Pride Park in the fourth round of the competition on Monday night hoping to avoid an upset against their League One opponents.

Ahead of that game, West Ham released a training video on the club website, with manager David Moyes putting his players through their paces ahead of facing the Rams.

In the video, four of the club’s younger players were pictured back in first-team training, suggesting that they may potentially be involved against the Rams.

Striker Divin Mubama was spotted in the video. The 18-year-old striker, who scored and provided an assist for the under-21s against Manchester United last Friday, has been promoted to help with the club’s issues up front.

At present, Danny Ings and Gianluca Scamacca are both sidelined with knee issues, meaning Michail Antonio is the club’s only natural striker who is currently fit at senior level.

Behind Antonio, Mubama is next in the pecking order, playing twice for the first-team this season. He made his full debut against FCSB in the Europa Conference League in November, while coming off the bench for his Premier League debut against Arsenal on Boxing Day. Mubama was also left out of the under-18s’ FA Youth Cup win over Burnley on Tuesday night, having trained with the first-team earlier that day.

Divin Mubama of West Ham United looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Rangers and West Ham United at Ibrox Stadium (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Also in the first-team training video was playmaker Kamarai Swyer, whose late effort against Manchester United’s under-21s five days ago hit the post, denying Mark Robson’s side of late point.

Swyer made his one and only senior appearance to date off the bench against FCSB in the Europa Conference League two months ago, having also made the bench without being used three times since the start of last season.

Also pictured in the session were goalkeepers Joseph Anang and Krisztian Hegyi. With Darren Randolph close to joining Bournemouth in a permanent move, Anang’s loan spell with Derby was cut short on Monday, and he is now back in the first-team squad.

Hegyi, despite only playing for the under-21s this season, regularly trains with the first-team and has featured on the first-team bench six times this season.

Having not made a first-team appearance for Derby while on loan there, Anang is not cup tied and could feature. However, Alphonse Areola is likely to start in goal.

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