OPINION
Manuel Pellegrini must drop West Ham winger Michail Antonio for his own good for the game against Wolves despite the player reportedly being confident about making the clash.
The Hammers boss previously revealed that the 5ft 9in tall 28-year-old (Source: Transfermarkt) had picked up a slight ankle problem during his latest outing against Arsenal which was reason why he left the field early.
“Unfortunately for him, he has a slight problem in his ankle and that is why he did not complete the game, but he played very well,” stated Pellegrini, as quoted by the club’s official website.
However while that was a worry as he could have missed significant game time, especially when you consider his recent bad luck with injuries, apparently the knock is set to not cause Antonio too many problems.
Claret & Hugh reported that according to their source the winger was quietly confident about being fit enough to face Wolves so much so that it would be more of a surprise if he wasn’t in the squad for the game.
The positive injury update shared that Antonio is set miss Tuesday’s game against AFC Wimbledon as that would be taking an unnecessary risk with him.
Claret & Hugh’s insider source also stated that with these sorts of injuries and minor niggles, it’s normally up to the player to make a professional decision regarding his fitness.
It’s very likely that Antonio will try to be available no matter what due to seeing his 2017/18 campaign dramatically effected by injuries and not having the best of luck with injury problems during his 2016/17 season either.
Pellegrini previously shared when revealing the winger’s knock that the reason the player didn’t feature against Bournemouth was because they were trying to ease him back in to action as it wasn’t that long ago that he was on the surgeon’s table.
“I was asked about why Michail Antonio has started two games and was not involved against Bournemouth,” said the Hammers manager, as quoted by the club’s website.
“The answer is that Michail played the first game and he didn’t play the second because he had played the full 90 minutes and it was his first game after six months on from his surgery, so he couldn’t continue playing every game.
“We rested him and that way he could work better during the week and could be ready to play this game.”
Based on the fact that Pellegrini has started the player in two games so far then he likely has big plans for Antonio this season and in order for him to be fit enough to fulfil them he needs to effectively be wrapped in cotton wool.
This means that even if the winger decides he feels fit enough to face Wolves at the weekend, Pellegrini should still drop him from his side as it would be for his own good in the long-term.
The Hammers can cope without Antonio on the field as they have plenty of options so there is no need to rush him back when there is any form of doubt as doing so previously has found him constantly returning to the medical room after getting a clean bill of health.
