The West Ham young guns who could get their chance to impress against Charlton

The Hammers under-23's had some noteable absentees from their opening game as the first team prepare for the Carabao Cup

The Carabao Cup presents a chance for youngsters to make a name for themselves and it is no different at West Ham.

They face League One side Charlton Athletic at London Stadium on Tuesday evening in a second round tie as David Moyes looks to pick his players back up after their 2-0 Premier League defeat to Newcastle at the weekend.

The manager is expected to rotate his squad and give some fringe players some minutes despite the season only being one game old. It represents a chance for those players to stake their claim and force their way into the Premier League side.

It also means the kids could get their chance to shine and follow in the footsteps of Grady Diangana, who made his debut for the club in the competition in 2018 and scored twice in a 9-0 rout of Macclesfield Town.

We all know what has happened since with the academy graduate but it was the League Cup that gave him the launchpad to progress to a six-year contract extension in east London and regular Premier League minutes as well.

West Ham’s under-23s played their first Premier League 2 fixture of the new season on Monday and looking at the squad lists, there were some notable absentees. Reading between the lines, they could be in line for the senior squad in E20 on Tuesday.

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Defenders Jamal Baptiste and Ajibola Alese were not included in Dimitri Halajko’s starting eleven against Chelsea. Nor were strikers Mipo Odubeko or Xande Silva. Midfielder Conor Coventry also missed out for the under-23s in their season opener at Kingsmeadow as the youngsters returned to the top tier of academy football.

While they might not start against Charlton on Tuesday, it will be a first competitive matchday experience for the Hammers first team for many of them. There were appearances in pre-season friendlies for all of the aforementioned players.

There are first team players looking for minutes too. The likes of Josh Cullen, Jack Wilshere, Sebastien Haller, Felipe Anderson, Fabian Balbuena and Arthur Masuaku will be desperate to show they can force their way into Moyes’ thinking for the Premier League match against Arsenal this weekend.

The Carabao Cup gives the youngsters their chance at senior football and it represents a big chance for some of the impressive crop of kids at Chadwell Heath the opportunity to make their splash, much like Diangana did two years ago.