West Ham United avoided a giant killing in the FA Cup on Saturday but Premier League relegation rivals, and therefore loanee James Ward-Prowse, did not.

Ward-Prowse made his full debut for Burnley, starting a senior game for the first time since West Ham United’s loss against Crystal Palace in September.

While Ward-Prowse scored a stunning free-kick while playing with the Burnley U21s earlier this month, it was another set-piece expert who decided the FA Cup fourth round clash between the Clarets and Mansfield.

Indeed, the League One outfit came from behind at Turf Moor to inflict further misery on Scott Parker’s side. After Josh Laurent had given Burnley a first-half lead, Nigel Clough’s side struck back through Rhys Oates not long after the break.

Why do YOU think it didn’t work out for James Ward-Prowse at West Ham?

Stags captain Louis Reed, who is noted for his free-kick expertise just like Ward-Prowse, then curled a fine effort in from around 25 yards in the 80^th minute.

The League One side held on to reach the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 1975 and, after the game, Mansfield’s official X account appeared to aim a cheeky dig at Ward-Prowse.

They posted a clip of Reed’s goal and captioned it: “The only free-kick specialist on show at Turf Moor this afternoon.”

Scott Parker’s thoughts on James Ward-Prowse’s full Burnley debut

The 11-cap England international did play in Burnley’s comeback win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Thursday, though he was only afforded around seven minutes of action.

Having watched Ward-Prowse play a full 90 minutes at senior level for the first time in months, Parker – who was visibly annoyed by the result – said in a post-match interview: “I thought he did well.

“Obviously a tough game at times, but I thought James showed his quality. He’s not had a lot of minutes and you could see that at the back end of the game a little bit, but for large parts I thought he did very well. He’ll be better for that.”

Harsh but true?

How concerned are you about West Ham’s squad depth?

We are so far off the elite with our squad depth. We will definitely be in trouble if we go down this year, I can see us struggling in the championship.

Yeah if we stay up then perhaps it can be properly addressed! Anyone stand out for you?

Why James Ward-Prowse had to leave West Ham United

Ward-Prowse fell out with Nuno Espirito Santo at Nottingham Forest, meaning the writing was on the wall for him when the Portuguese coach was appointed as Graham Potter’s successor back in September.

Though the midfielder was included in West Ham’s squad to play against Sunderland in January, that was the only time he was ever even slightly involved under Nuno.

Indeed, even that call was made out of necessity. Andy Irving had just left for Sparta Prague, while Guido Rodriguez was in the process of completing a move to Valencia, which was confirmed after that game.