Winner Ashton ready to take Tevez mantle

Ashton suffered heartbreak last August when he broke an ankle on the eve of his first senior call-up for the England team.

Scroll down to read more:

The injury ruled him out for the whole of last season and the £7 million striker questioned whether he would be able to play again.

But, after working tirelessly though the summer, Ashton has regained full fitness and is determined to regain the form which made him one of the best strikers in the English game.

Roma took the lead on 14 minutes when former Barcelona midfielder Ludovic Giuly fired a shot past Robert Green into the corner of the net.

But West Ham bounced back and scored an equaliser on 64 minutes. Freddie Ljungberg's corner picked out George McCartney, who rose the highest to head the ball past Roma keeper Gianluca Curci.

Ashton then showed his class when he netted the second after 67 minutes. The striker skipped past the Roma defence and drilled the ball through the legs of Curci.

Tevez became a folk hero at Upton Park last season for helping the club retain their Premiership status, but Ashton clearly has all the attributes to become an even bigger hero with West Ham supporters.

Following a season of turmoil last season, manager Alan Curbishley is determined to stabilise the club in the forthcoming campaign and make them a force to be reckoned with again in the top flight.

The Tevez affair has been settled with his long-awaited move to Manchester United and the dark clouds appear to have been lifted over the East End of London. Curbishley has stamped his authority on the club this summer, bringing in his own backroom staff and implanting new ideas on the training ground.

Chairman Eggert Magnusson has also shown his passion towards the club by spending £24m on new players in the close season. Big things are expected of Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker and Ljungberg, who all have a hunger to show they can still compete with the Premiership's best.

The club suffered a major blow when French midfielder Julien Faubert ruptured his Achilles tendon on their pre-season tour to Austria and is expected to be ruled out until the start of 2008. Curbishley acted quickly by bringing in the vastly-experienced Ljungberg from Arsenal and will be hoping the Sweden captain can reproduce the magic he showed under Arsene Wenger during a nine-year spell with the north London side.

Bellamy, who has a tarnished reputation after a controversial season at Liverpool, will also find himself under the microscope and will be determined to let his football do the talking as he prepares for another new challenge.

Bellamy and Ljungberg made their first appearances at Upton Park in yesterday's last pre-season game. But there are growing fears that Parker will miss the big kick-off against Manchester City next weekend because of a knee injury suffered in Austria.