Northern Ireland International Callum Marshall could be in line to start for West Ham against Brentford on Monday night.

The stars may be aligning for Callum Marshall to make his first start for West Ham United in the Premier League as the Hammers host Keith Andrews’ Brentford at the London Stadium on Monday night.

The 20-year-old made his competitive debut for the club against Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend, replacing the struggling Niclas Fullkrug on the hour mark.

Marshall didn’t really have the opportunity to impress against the Gunners, because the whole team played poorly, however he did go close at one point. A match at home against Brentford could be the chance for Marshall to show West Ham fans what he can do, and it’s likely he will get that chance from the start.

Niclas Fullkrug was left out of the Germany squad after suffering a torn muscle bundle in his thigh, and is expected to be out for several weeks.

Under Graham Potter you’d just assume that if Fullkrug was injured, Callum Wilson would step in from the start. However, Nuno has already showed he is willing to give the youngsters a chance, and has also shown he’s more than willing to pick Marshall over Wilson.

The only thing that may tempt the 51-year-old to pick Wilson is that he would have been training with him and his staff throughout the whole of the International break, while Marshall has been away, and they may have decided on a system that includes Wilson.

However, because we play on Monday, and Marshall and the rest of the Internationals will likely return from International duty the preceding Wednesday, Nuno will have at least three training sessions to work with Marshall before the game, so may opt for him.

Even if he doesn’t start Marshall and opts for Wilson, Fullkrug’s injury almost certainly guarantees that Marshall will get minutes in almost every match he’s out. The German getting injured could be a real blessing in disguise for Nuno Espírito Santo and West Ham United.