West Ham have confirm ed that striker Dylan Tombides   has died aged 20.

The club announced Tombides, who made one senior appearance after signing as a 15-year-old, had died “following

his brave battle with cancer”.

They said the Australia-born player of Greek descent,  diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2011, “will be hugely missed by all who had the honour of knowing him”.

There will be a minute’s applause in his memory at West Ham’s home game against Crystal Palace on Saturday

Tombides played youth team football in Australia and Hong Kong before joining West Ham aged 15. Playing for West Ham in their reserve team he was an unused substitute in the Premier League game on 22 May 2011 against Sunderland.

On 25 September 2012, he made his professional debut for West Ham in a 4–1 home defeat to Wigan Athletic in the League Cup coming on as an 84th minute substitute for Gary O’Neil.

Tombides played in the Under-17 World Cup in Mexico in 2011. He represented Australia in games against, Côte d’Ivoire, Brazil, Denmark and Uzbekistan, scoring the winner against Côte d’Ivoire. In January 2014, he represented Australia at the AFC U-22 Championship in Muscat, Oman. He played in games against Oman, Iran and Japan, reaching the quarter final stage.