West Ham United may be without veteran striker Michail Antonio tonight, with the Jamaica international a potential doubt heading into the Europa Conference League clash against Anderlecht.
What’s the latest?
Taking to the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, David Moyes spoke of the injury news surrounding his squad.
Whilst there were positive updates on Irons duo Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet, who have made improvements in their quest for match fitness, the 59-year-old cast doubts on Antonio, who has missed training this week due to illness.
Speaking on the injury status of his squad, Moyes said: “I think most of the players are fine. Michail Antonio has a wee bit of a cold, which has kept him out of training for a day or two. So we’re a little unsure on him.
“We’ve got a couple of knocks and niggles but I think we’ll be okay.”
A slight doubt
Having missed a couple of training sessions, Antonio must be a doubt heading into the European clash tonight and will be touch-and-go to feature, depending on what Moyes decides.
If the Jamaican is deemed unfit to play, it will come as a blow to West Ham, with the manager duly being forced to start the in-form Gianluca Scamacca once again.
With the Italian playing 80 minutes against Fulham last Sunday, Moyes would surely have hoped to grant him some rest ahead of the Southampton clash this weekend and consequently give Antonio a runout, with the Jamaica international having played 104 minutes of football across the last three games combined.
The 32-year-old shone in West Ham’s opening game of the Europa Conference League group stage against Romanian side FCSB, grabbing a goal and an assist in his 45 or so minutes of second-half action for the Irons.
However, with Antonio having played just 24 minutes across the last two Premier League games, it is clear that Scamacca is the favoured centre-forward under Moyes at the moment, so the veteran marksman would have been a sure-fire pick to start this game and get some more minutes under his belt.
Alas, a nervy wait is in store to see if Antonio makes it onto the team sheet tonight.
