West Ham boss David Moyes insists Flynn Downes needs time to adjust to Premier League demands.
The summer signing from Swansea City has battled to settle so far this season.
Moyes said: "Flynn Downes has come from the Championship and he's needed time.
"People might say 'what about Jarrod Bowen?', but it's different because Jarrod joined us when we were a team trying to avoid being in the bottom three, and Flynn has joined a team who is trying to be in the top half of the league.
"We've changed from that point of view, so he'll need to wait for his opportunities and what I will say is that I think he's trained much better in the past two or three weeks and we're certainly seeing a bit more from him than when he first came in.
"Maybe he's recognising, 'hey I've got to step up as well and going to have to move up if I'm going to join these boys here'."