pre-season friendly against Dagenham & Redbridge where he played for 45 minutes. He admitted he had doubted whether he would ever return to top class football and was excitedly looking forward to next season, saying, "I don't think there will be a hungrier player in the Premier League this season than me". He scored his first goals for a year in the pre-season matches against Leyton Orient and Roma. He made his return to the Premier League on 11 August 2007 against Manchester City, coming on as a substitute for George McCartney in the 65th minute, and went on to make 35 league and cup appearances in the 2007–08 season, scoring 11 goals, most notably an overhead kick against Manchester United. Ashton signed a new five-year contract at West Ham in June 2008, keeping him at the club until 2013. Ashton started the 2008–09 Premiership campaign in blistering form, scoring both goals in the 2–1 home win against Wigan. However, he quickly found himself back on the Hammers' burgeoning injury list after spraining his ankle in manager Gianfranco Zola's first training session. Ashton made no appearances in the 2009–10 season. On 11 December 2009, West Ham announced that Ashton had retired, aged 26, after failing to recover from a long-term ankle injury originally sustained during an international training session, in August 2006, following a tackle from Shaun Wright-Phillips. Ashton made 56 appearances in all competitions for West Ham, scoring 19 goals, but at his retirement had not played since appearing against West Bromwich Albion on 13 September 2008. Upon hearing the announcement of the striker's retirement, Ashton's former manager at Crewe, Dario Gradi, told the press that he wanted Ashton in time to become part of the coaching team at Crewe. In January 2011, West Ham, seeking compensation for Ashton, prepared a writ against The Football Association for £10.5m. In 2013, Ashton started his own claim for work injury compensation for loss of future earnings following his 2006 injury while playing for England. International career Ashton progressed through the England youth set up, racking up an impressive goal-to-game ratio. In August 2006, Ashton was first called up to the England senior team for their friendly against Greece, part of new manager Steve McClaren's team. However, just a day before the match, the striker suffered a heavy tackle from Shaun Wright-Phillips which resulted in a broken ankle in training and missed