Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted with Edvin Austbo’s scintillating performance off the bench during West Ham United’s 6-0 victory over Lincoln City, while Airidas Golambeckis got some minutes too at Sincil Bank.

Two young substitutes delivered impressive displays in Lincolnshire on Wednesday night, albeit in very different circumstances. West Ham United were only 1-0 up and had struggled to break down a Lincoln side who packed their nine remaining men firmly behind the ball.

By the time Airidas Golambeckis was introduced for only his second-ever league appearance, the Hammers were three goals to the good and cruising. Still only 18, Golambeckis was ‘amazing’ at Watford in his other Championship outing. This was an extremely different, and much less pressurised, assignment for the young centre-back.

Nuno Espirito Santo applauds Edvin Austbo’s game-changing West Ham United display

Speaking to Sky Sports after Austbo was joined on the scoresheet by Jarrod Bowen, Pablo and Tomas Soucek [twice], the head coach seized the chance to praise the impact of his young guns. Austbo in particular, the Norway Under-21 international claiming the Man of the Match award on a night of plentiful candidates.

“Happy, happy for Edvin,” Nuno beamed. “[The way he scored the goal off the left] is something that he does really well. We need that type of confidence. One-v-one he’s good, and we need to take advantage of it.

“[For Golambeckis], it is important to have Airidas at 18 years old to feel the pressure of playing for West Ham. It will make him better and keep him growing.”

Golambeckis is one of six academy graduates who has made his first-team debut under Nuno. Meanwhile, director of Player Recruitment Nils Koppen explained the £12 million signing of Austbo from Viking FK by highlighting his ability to ‘make the difference in small spaces’.

That is exactly what happened in Lincolnshire; Austbo zipping away from his marker and whacking a shot into the top corner despite facing a sardine-filled penalty area packed to the rafters.

Nuno looks ahead to Swansea City test after Lincoln obliteration

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Nuno added. “Of course, the red cards make it not so tough if you want, but even with nine men, Lincoln were in the game. They are a very honourable group of players.

“But we were patient enough to create the imbalance and score the goals. Happy. It was really important. [Winning in this manner] requires patience in the final third, good combinations, and more than anything, [you need] to finish the actions. I think we did well. There were nice goals. It’s good for our confidence. Going forward, it’s vital.”

West Ham cut the gap between themselves and the league leaders to just four points ahead of Saturday’s trip to surprise-packages Swansea City]

“We have a big one [at Swansea],” the head coach says. “[Winning 6-0 against nine men] is what we didn’t expect to happen, but it’s not up to us. We did our job. We know it’s going to be tough at Swansea.

“We are trying to build momentum. The table is not vital to look at. We need to keep the lads focused, keep improving, and our objective is clear. We have to go back [to the Premier League].”