David Moyes provides Antonio injury update ahead of West Ham v Palace
West Ham manager David Moyes believes that Michail Antonio is close to returning from injury but admitted that he is unlikely to play against Crystal Palace.
Antonio has missed five of the Hammers’ last six Premier League games after picking up two separate injuries.
Speaking before Wednesday’s game against Palace, Moyes claimed that his side have been managing just fine without their talisman.
Football.London quote Moyes as saying, “I think the game tomorrow might come too early for him. He is coming on and we are getting him closer. We want to get him right, be correct with him. We are missing him and we know that.”
“We are looking capable of scoring goals in every game we play in and we have been doing that without our talisman in Micky Antonio. We have had to come through a period of five or six games without him and we have had to find a way of picking up results.
“We are looking forward to getting him back, but we know we will have to keep playing well to keep up this league position.”
The Hammers have won three and lost two of their games without Antonio with those losses coming against Liverpool and Manchester United.
The most impressive of the three wins was against Leeds United at Elland Road just a few days ago, a result which kept Moyes’ side in the top six.
The other two wins were slightly less impressive 1-0 victories over relegation-threatened Fulham and Sheffield United.
These narrow wins prove that the Irons can manage without Antonio but the results were far from convincing. Antonio’s stand-in, Sebastien Haller, has not impressed despite scoring at Bramall Lane and there is no doubt that the Hammers will be a better side when their key man is available.
It would be a timely boost for the Irons if Antonio was fit to face Chelsea as Moyes’ side face a difficult task when they travel to Stamford Bridge at the weekend.
In other West Ham news, Peter Crouch has delivered his verdict on the Hammers’ season so far.