Yossi Benayoun

Dean Ashton opines that his goals against Sunderland, Birmingham City and Everton justified West Ham’s decision to sign him over a decade ago. He used to be one of the most promising players in English football.

Ashton was highly rated due to his impressive performances in the shirt of Crewe Alex and Norwich City. All these made the Hammers splash a club record of £7.25 million far back in January 2006 for his signature despite being largely unproven at the biggest stage.

From the start, he was under pressure to deliver in the Claret and Blue jersey. The goals in the early stage of his stay at the club seemed to calm nerves but it also brought another wave of pressure. Ashton kept impressing, scoring a crucial goal that saw the Hammers see off Manchester City in the FA Cup. They reached the final but lost painfully to Liverpool through a penalty shootout.

The player, reminiscing, says he is happy to have proved his detractors wrong in the first ten games at West Ham.He said his focus at that stage of his career was solely targeted at repaying the confidence placed in him.

“The two goals I got at Manchester City in the FA Cup sixth round in March 2006 went a long way towards me proving myself worthy of that price tag,” he explained.

In the first, he combined with Matty Etherington and skipper Nigel Reo-Coker before sending his left footed effort past David James. In the second goal, he connected to a Yossi Bernayoun cross to make it a brace.