ALAN Curbishley believes that West Ham are well set for the future, with a wealth of homegrown youngsters starting to make the grade through the ranks, writes James Randall.

Curbishley blooded 18-year-old defender James Tomkins in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Everton, just a week after watching 18-year-old striker Freddie Sears make a goalscoring start to his Hammers career.

Sears earned his second appearance off the bench at Goodison Park, making it four Hammers players to end up on the pitch who have risen through the club's Academy of Football - established stars Mark Noble and Anton Ferdinand being the others.

And Hammers boss Curbishley (pictured) thinks that in itself it is a massive boost to the fans.

"The fans get a big lift by homegrown talent - certainly at West Ham anyway - and those watching (at Everton) would have got a big lift out of Tomkins. He came through it after the goal," he said.

"Obviously young Freddie coming on, and not forgetting Ferdinand and Noble, it bares well for us in the future."

He added: "It's looking good for and if we can get one or two of those injured players back it will give us that little bit of quality that we need and will make the squad stronger."

Tomkins endured a tough start on his Irons debut - he was at fault for Ayegbeni Yakubu's early opener - but recovered with a solid display to show that he could be a regular fixture in the side for years to come.

"I think Tomkins should have been given an opportunity before now but Jon Spector wants to play centre back aswell, another young player we've got who has done fantastic for us," explained Curbishley.

"But an opportunity arose. I could have perhaps put Lucas Neill in there and swapped it around a little bit but Tomkins deserved his chance. We had no doubts about it to be honest.

"Everyone has great hopes for him."

The ex-Charlton boss though, has also had his eye on fellow youngsters Sears, Jack Collinson and Kyel Reid for the last couple of months.

All have been training and travelling with the first team squad but Curbishley insists it is up to him to decide the perfect time to introduce the club's next generation of stars to the Premier League.

He said: "I've got a couple of youngsters who have been around it for some time.

"Collison came on against Arsenal and is just waiting for his opportunity and Kyel Reid came on against Everton in the cup game and he's been itching to get a chance.

"I've never been afraid of putting the youngsters in, but I've got to have one hat on considering trying to win Premier League matches and points and another one where I'm looking at the future of the club."

Curbishley is particularly impressed that his young charges have their feet firmly on the ground.

"They're very, very level-headed," he said.

"Everything is a bonus to them at the moment and long may it continue."

Sears, notably, has been singled out for praise by his boss, who hinted that the young forward is likely to start a Premier League game before the season is out.

The prolific marksman has twice come off the bench to massively influence the game for the Hammers, and Curbishley thinks a first team start isn't far off.

"I'm going to start him in one of the games, I've just got to pick it," he said.

"Freddie has been training with us for the last couple of months and it was only a matter of time before I put him in. He's enthusiastic."

The Iron's boss admitted he was tempted to start the wonderkid on Saturday, but opted for experience instead, adding: "Everton was a tough place to go to.

"I didn't think giving two 18-year-olds their debut at Goodison, at the same time, was advisable."