Alessandro Diamanti is desperate to make his West Ham debut this weekend after offering a tantalising glimpse of his ability with a two-goal cameo for the reserves

By JONATHAN CLEGG

Alessandro Diamanti admits he is desperate to make his West Ham debut at Wigan this weekend after offering fans a tantalising glimpse of his ability with a two-goal cameo for the reserves.

Diamanti curled home two free-kicks in West Ham's 6-0 Premier Reserve League win over Birmingham City on Tuesday night in his first appearance in a claret and blue shirt since his �4m switch from Livorno.

The 26-year-old forward was the driving force in a dominant victory at Upton Park, which also saw teenager Zavon Hines net a hat-trick.

Now Diamanti is eager to make his full Hammers bow as he attempts to build on an impressive start to his career in England.

"I can not wait to show my quality. Playing here is an excellent feeling and I was very excited," Diamanti told the club's website.

"The team did well and had a good game and I'm very happy about that."

Fellow new signing Manuel Da Costa, who also played in the match, has revealed his determination to repay West Ham for rescuing him from his Serie A nightmare.

The 23-year-old joined the Hammers last week as part of the deal that sent Savio Nsereko to Fiorentina, bringing to an end a miserable spell in Italy.

Da Costa failed to settle in Florence after moving from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, where he had emerged as a promising defender under Ronald Koeman.

He made just one league appearance for the Viola before being shipped out on loan to Sampdoria, where the centre-half again failed to secure regular first-team football.

Da Costa suffered a fresh blow when he was omitted from Fiorentina's Champions League squad last month, but the he is now desperate to revive his career at Upton Park.

He said: "I have spoken to Gianluca Nani and Gianfranco Zola and they have both said that they want to give me an opportunity to relaunch my career.

"They have told me that they have confidence in my abilities and that is why I was happy to accept West Ham's offer.

"For me now the most important thing is to establish a place in the team since I have come from a period in which I played very little. I want to convince Zola and the technical staff that I am a player they can count on.