‘We will try’ – Moyes coy on fitness of key man ahead of West Brom v West Ham
West Ham boss David Moyes is trying to get star man Michail Antonio ready for his side’s clash against West Brom amid fitness issues with the 30-year-old.
Antonio made his first start after recovering from his latest injury in last weekend’s 1-0 win against Burnley and he managed to make a goalscoring comeback as his influence on the Irons was proved once again.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s game, Moyes hinted that Antonio may not start the match as West Ham face the same issues brought by a congested fixture list as other clubs.
Moyes is quoted by Football.London as saying, “It is really difficult for us at the moment, but I think if anything Mick has been managing himself in the games well.
“I don’t think he is at full tilt at the moment, I think he is doing well, but I know there are another couple of gears for him to go into.
“We have got to be careful with him, but we also want to win games and we want to keep moving forward, so we will try and get Micky ready for the game. I think it is a really quick set of games for lots of clubs and we are no different to the others.”
Antonio played the full 90 minutes against the Clarets which means that he may not be able to start another game just a few days later as he is yet to regain full fitness.
This presents a major problem for the Hammers as they have no backup striker after the club sold Sebastien Haller to Ajax earlier this month with Moyes is yet to sign a replacement.
This could make the Baggies defender’s lives a bit easier on Tuesday night as they look to follow up last weekend’s win against Wolves with another positive result.
The same defensive issues that have plagued Albion were on display at Molineux as Sam Allardyce’s side conceded two quickfire goals before half time.
Luckily we were able to make up for that at the other end but West Ham are in much better form than Wolves and have a tighter defence.
Of course, anything can happen on the pitch but it would be a considerable boost for Albion if Antonio is unable to start at the London Stadium.
In other West Brom news, Predicted Baggies starting XI for Tuesday clash v West Ham