Danny Mills was blown away by West Ham United forward Michail Antonio for his performance in the 1-0 win against Chelsea.
The Sky Sports pundit heaped praise on the rarely-seen Hammers striker due to his work rate in the final third at Stamford Bridge, and the pressure he put on the Chelsea defence.
Mills claimed his pace and power is a massive attribute to Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham after he replaced their club-record signing Sebastien Haller on Saturday.
“What they are looking at is what has he got? He’s got pace, he’s got energy about him, so that’s what he offers you, that’s what he can do,” he told Football Insider.
“He works his socks off, he’s very, very hard working, we know that, so it gives them an opportunity and when someone’s prepared to put that in, that effort, put people under pressure, it causes problems, simple as that.”
The 29-year-old started his first game since returning from injury after featuring off the bench and scoring in the 3-2 defeat against Tottenham the week before.
OPINION
Mills is spot on with his verdict on Antonio after his performance against Chelsea. It will leave Pellegrini with a massive headache going into the game against Wolves, and who to start after the 29-year-old only just returned to the starting line up at Stamford Bridge. There will be question marks over whether or not Antonio could start two games in less than a week, and that could give Haller the chance to come back in and prove his worth. Pellegrini could be tempted to change his system slightly to play the two together at Molineux, with Haller looking isolated when playing as a lone striker, and Antonio maybe not having the engine or fitness to start up top alone. Antonio has definitely staked his claim to lead the line though, and if he recovers well there is no doubting that he will start the game as the Hammers look to make it back-to-back wins.
