Antonio injury explained as lifeless Hammers go behind

West Ham boss David Moyes was unable to name Michail Antonio in his squad for the match at Fulham where the team were 1-0 down at half time.

We understand that the striker felt uncomfortable with a thigh problem last night and at this stage of things the manager was unwilling to take any chances ahead of the Premier League restart.

What made it worse was that Gianluca Scamacca hobbled out of the action after nine minutes and Moyes sent on Flynn Downes – moving Jarrod Bowen to the centre of attack.

The Hammers slowly got worse after that creating only one chance in front of goal in the 45 minutes when Bowen steered a close range shot wide from Coufal’s fine low cross.

Fulham went ahead five minutes before half time and it was no more than they deserved after a sloppy display from the Irons which saw passes going astray and Benrahma the only threat.