Xande Silva should get first-team chance vs Birmingham

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Manuel Pellegrini should hand exciting young star Xande Silva his first senior start against Birmingham City in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The summer signing from Vitória de Guimarães is highly anticipated by the Irons faithful after learning of the way he’s started for the club’s U23s.

Silva has made six appearances in PL2 and has already scored seven goals.

He had to miss a couple of months with a hamstring injury, but hit a brace on his first game back.

Silva recently broke into the first-team having impressed so much, and after three games unused substitute, he was finally handed his debut against Burnley last weekend.

A start beckons against Birmingham?

Manuel Pellegrini must now allow Silva to build on his short debut by handing him his first start against Birmingham in the FA Cup.

There might be some temptation for the Chilean to field Andy Carroll in place of Marko Arnautovic, but there are still worries over his match fitness.

Silva has been razor sharp at youth level this term and Birmingham are an ideal opposition for him to test himself.

The manager may be considering starts for Grady Diangana and Lucas Perez, but he should certainly leave a slot for Silva in a central striking role.

The Portuguese prospect is widely regarded as one of the club’s top young players despite only joining last summer, and this is a golden opportunity.