A prolific goalscorer at Under-18 and reserve team level, livewire striker Freddie Sears is eager to join the long line of homegrown West Ham United strikers to make their mark at the highest level.

Sears joined the club as a schoolboy at the age of eleven. Citing Paolo Di Canio as his all-time favourite player, he dreams of leading the West Ham attack at Wembley. After beginning the 2006/07 campaign as a regular substitute for the U18s he soon forced his way into contention with his goals earning him a starting berth for Tony Carr's side.

His chances of realising his hopes took a major leap forward in the 2007/08 campaign with a prolific run for the U18s - including a hat-trick against Millwall in October 2007.

By then he had already made his England bow, getting 27 minutes as a substitute in a 4-0 U19 friendly win against Belarus on 11 September. The Hornchurch-based striker then suffered a setback, however, with a broken foot sidelining him during the closing weeks of the year.

However, he fought his way back to fitness and was soon back among the goals - not least with four in his first three outings of 2008.

Reserve-team football also came his way, and he particularly impressed in a 1-0 win away to Portsmouth in January before a two-goal show in a 3-1 win alongside Dean Ashton at Tottenham Hotspur the following month.

He had scored 25 goals in 24 matches for the youths and reserves during the 2007/08 campaign, and just signed a new deal with the club by the time he made it on to the bench on 15 March for the visit of Blackburn Rovers. He came on with 16 minutes to play and barely five minutes later had headed the winner in a rousing 2-1 home win.

Sears endured a more testing time in 2008/09, failing to score in 22 league and cup appearances for the Hammers - although only seven of those were starts - but his promise was enough to earn him a new contract until 2013. Despite his lack of goals at first-team level, the youngster did bang in all four in a Barclays Premier Reserve League win over West Bromwich Albion in September 2008 to prove he still had the goalscoring touch.

At international level, Sears joined club-mates James Tomkins and Junior Stanislas in England's Under-20 side for the 2-0 friendly win over Italy at Loftus Road on 1 April 2009.

Sears sought to gain valuable first-team experience when he signed a season-long loan move with London side Crystal Palace in July 2009.