Mikey Antonio is back – the Moyes presser
Mikey Antonio is back and available for tomorrow’s game against his former club Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Whether he starts is quite another question given he has been out of action since the reverse fixture in November and without a goal since last August.
Mikey Antonio is back – the Moyes presser
Although the No 9 has only two to his name in 14 appearances his return looks exciting given that it may offer the chance to return Jarrod Bowen to his best position wide on the right although it is probably more likely the No 20 will star the game with Mikey appearing as a hopeful impact sub later in the game.
Meanwhile, despite the drubbing by Arsenal, manager David Moyes says he is looking forward to the match and will be looking for a strong reaction after the third hiding of the season following heavy defeats by Fulham and Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
The Hammers are aiming too bring a five-game winless run to an end whilst Forest are hoping for a first victory in five games, and go into the clash eight spots below eighth-placed West Ham in the Premier League table, just two points above the relegation zone.
Manager Moyes faced the media for his pre-match press conference at Rush Green on Friday afternoon declaring: “Lucas Paquetá is not fit for tomorrow. He’s been on the grass for a couple of days, but he’s not quite there yet.
We’ve missed him a lot, as well as other players that have been out or away. We lost Mohammed Kudus and Nayef Aguerd to the African Cup of Nations, and Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen have both had spells injured. Other clubs have had similar issues, but it does have an impact.
Michail Antonio will be available. We need to see exactly what level he’s at, but he’s had a week or so of training now, so he’ll be back in the squad.
Kurt Zouma’s fine, the bigger problem last week was Edson Álvarez. He came off at half-time with illness, but he’s recovered and is fine.”
He added: “I think the standout thing from last week was Arsenal’s performance. We didn’t play well and we didn’t get anywhere close to the required standard, but we were up against a formidable team on the day and we were punished.
We’re all in it together, and we’re going into this next game as a unit. We’ve had some great results this season, last week we had a poor one, and now we have to bounce back. I’m looking forward to seeing how the players go about it, because what I’ve seen in training has been very good.
When you’ve lost like we did, you’ve got a duty to show a reaction. I take responsibility, but it’s the players who cross that white line, and I’m sure they’ll all be desperate to put things right tomorrow.”