"Would easily walk into our team" - Many West Ham fans react to "exciting" injury progress

Winston Reid made his return to senior football on Thursday, playing 45 minutes of New Zealand’s friendly against Republic of Ireland.

The 31-year-old has not played a competitive game for West Ham United since coming off in the 27th minute of a 4-1 loss against Swansea City in March 2018 – an injury that saw him miss 53 games for the Hammers.

He played the first half of the game, keeping the Irish out until the very end of the period of play as Derrick Williams’ header saw the sides go in at half-time with the score tied at 1-1.

Ireland ended up winning 3-1, with former Hammer Sean Maguire scoring their second, but many West Ham fans won’t have been bothered about the scoreline, with the focus being on the fact that Reid managed to get on the pitch and came through unscathed.

This is another positive step in Reid’s recovery, after he played an hour for West Ham U23s against Wolfsburg B, indicating that he could be getting closer to a first-team appearance.

A selection of Twitter reaction to Reid’s game time, including posts from pleased West Ham fans, can be seen below:

Winston Reid on a football pitch WOOOOOWWWWW. Mind blown

— Neil Thompson (@NeilWHUThompson) November 15, 2019

Think everyone has forgotten how good Winston Reid actually is, would easily walk into our team when he’s match fit; him and diop

— eloise (@whuweller_x) November 14, 2019

Pretty exciting seeing this name , after so long..
@WinstonReid2 right now, you are most welcome back to the hammers squad! #westham #irons #imforeverblowingbubbles #winstonreid #hammers #eastlondon #Premier_League #defender #kiwi #NewZealand pic.twitter.com/5gD4974BBC

— Shane Thorne (@ShaneThorne) November 14, 2019

I actually think 45 mins in an international is better than 45 mins for the under 23s. I think if he plays 45 mins at the weekend aswell it would work in our favour.
Surely more minutes in the legs the better.
If he is going to break down again does it matter who he does it for.

— Lee Stewart Lewis (@LeeStewartLewis) November 14, 2019

Please NZ … don't break Winston Reid 🙏

— Susan Clark (@claretbluesue) November 14, 2019

Winston Reid is alive and playing a game of football https://t.co/e1W1MOAB9B

— Nick Deacon (@Nick__Deacon) November 14, 2019

Glad to see Winston Reid back on the pitch!

— Sean. (@Shorrrn) November 15, 2019

A lot of us get that feeling when around Winston Reid. https://t.co/asK3eDDTka

— Matty Denners (@Denner7s) November 15, 2019

@westhamfantv @WestHam how can Winston Reid go straight Into the New Zealand team even though his not played for his club in the Premier league for over a season @davidgold

— lisa langley (@liselou145) November 14, 2019