Hitzlsperger was the club's marquee signing last summer, arriving from Lazio on a free transfer.

The former Aston Villa man had to wait six months before he made his first competitive appearance in a West Ham shirt after he picked up a serious thigh injury while playing for his country last August.

The 28-year-old did not disappoint on his first West Ham appearance tonight though, taking only 23 minutes to open the scoring with a fierce drive that flew past Burnley keeper Lee Grant.

Hitzlsperger starred in the club's pre-season campaign and has now been tipped to take the Barclays Premier League by storm by his manager.

"It was good to have Thomas back. He was one of our best players in the preparation for the season and we have missed him so much because he got injured only a few days before the league started," Grant said.

"He is a very good player and with the system we play, he will be important.

"He can do many things. He knows how to defend and score, like you have seen tonight.

"But what you have seen tonight is not half of what he can do."

Hitzlsperger only played two reserve matches before tonight's appearance, which lasted 67 minutes before he was replaced by Pablo Barrera.

The Germany international savoured his role in the convincing win, which sets the Hammers up for a quarter-final clash with Stoke.

"I have been looking forward to this for a long time," he said.

"The reception I got was fantastic. I didn't expect it because I thought the fans had forgotten about me.

"The manager was speaking to me before the game about whether I would play 30 minutes or start, but I'm delighted to start with a goal and an important win for us."

The Hammers currently sit 19th in the league table after a series of faltering results, but Hitzlsperger now believes the club's FA Cup run can give the squad added confidence ahead of a series of tricky games against the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United.

"It's going to bring some confidence back to the camp and that's important with the games ahead of us," Hitzlsperger added.

"This is what we needed, I think, especially by such a great margin, 5-1 is a good win for us.

"With the games we have coming up, we're playing some really good teams so we need confidence and structure in our game.

"We can't make any mistakes because we need to climb up the table."

West Ham's run to the Carling Cup semi-final coincided with a series of impressive results in the league and Grant hopes to see a similar improvement after their recent victories in the FA Cup.

"I hope a run in the cup can spark us off in the Premier League as that is still our main target," the 56-year-old said

"It has happened before when we had good results in the Carling Cup."

Carlton Cole scored two goals in three second-half minutes to put the Hammers 3-0 up before Winston Reid and Freddie Sears rounded off the victory, which puts Grant's side within one win of a Wembley semi-final.

Jay Rodriguez pulled a consolation back for the npower Championship side late on but Clarets boss Eddie Howe admitted that Cole's second-half brace killed off the tie.

Howe said: "At the start of second half the game was over. Once you go 3-0 down you have to chase the game and it is very difficult.

"It could have been very different. I thought in the first half we were excellent and we were unfortunate to go in 1-0 down at the break.

"Second half, we had a bad start, no denying that. Defensively we looked a little shaky and West Ham punished us."