Ashton returned to the West Ham team on 14 July 2007 in a 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,