He took a giant step in his rehabilitation in the week when he played an hour for the reserves - his first action since injuring a cruciate ligament for the second time in his fledgling career.
He has been kept on until he resumes full fitness and moves on and he says:
"I am grateful to West Ham for keeping me an extra couple of months that I needed.
"I want to start my career, really, because I haven't had too much first team football."
He certainly took a giant step forward when he faced Norwich on Wednesday, and says:
"It was a good feeling; I didn't think I would be back this early, to be fair, and it has been a long hard struggle - but it has been all worth it.
"I did it in December but didn't have my operation until January so it has been about eight months now, which is not too bad - I have had my fair share of bad luck and I hope I don't get any more."
As for the immediate future, he says:
"We will just wait and see what happens; I will keep playing in the reserves until I am fully fit because I really need to get a 90 minutes under my belt, maybe play a few more games, and train consistently.
"At the moment I have been training two or three days then having a day off then training another two or three days.
"I am just trying to get back into it slowly, slowly and see how the knee progresses."
At least he can see the light at the end of the tunnel and he concludes:
"It is good to know that all your hard work has come to something; it would be a bit of a shame if you did all that and nothing came of it so it is good that I am back on the pitch."