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Ricardo Vaz Te hopes his Capital One Cup goal heroics will be enough to prove Sam Allardyce how important he is to the Hammers first-team.

The Portuguese striker scored an 88th minute winner in last night’s 3-2 cup victory over Cardiff City to go with his goal against Cheltenham Town in the previous round.

And now Vaz Te, who handed in a transfer request in August, wants to be given the opportunity to score goals in the Premier League.

He told whufc.com: “Obviously I enjoy playing and that’s the reason I came here and I’m in this business.

“This season I have found myself in a bit of a pickle because I noticed that I wasn’t going to be picked as the first option. I think I deserve to be the first option so it has been very frustrating.

“I was happy to get 90 minutes and now I have to keep showing that I deserve to play.”

And Vaz Te also paid tribute to his team-mates who have been supportive of him since he asked to leave the club last month.

“The players know the business and it’s hard,” he said. “They hold no grudges.”

“Obviously I expressed my desire to leave because I want to play. The players have been wonderful. The know my intentions and know I have huge respect for each individual and the manager and the club.

“I didn’t do it to hurt anybody. I just want to play.”