Mikey: ‘We are not letting anyone take this from us’

Michail Antonio training

Say what you like about Michail Antonio but one thing indisputable – he says it as it is and is as committed and determined as it gets.

He actually epitomises a squad which rarely knows when it is beaten as was demonstrated in the match against Sevilla when down to 10 men and taking a lead but eventually drawing a game against a very good Lyon side.

Mikey, like a few other players, has mentioned that of course in his latest interview with the media at a press conference ahead of tonight’s game in France.

And he has made it clear that if he has anything to do with it his dream of playing European football won’t be ending here.

He spoke of his dreams, his lack of goals and a squad which has just one plan  victory after the battle and incredible decisions we saw from the ref at the London Stadium

The No 9 said|: ‘It’s a great opportunity for us and a dream come true to get this far, and we’re not going to let anyone take it from us.

There are so many quality teams in the Premier League and in Europe, but we believe that we can come and win any game and that’s what the plan is: to come here and win the game.

It’s been a dream of mine to play in Europe, and to get to a quarter-final at the first time of asking has been amazing. 

The boys are buzzing, we’re buzzing, and the way things are going now, we’re in it to win it. That’s the plan.

There have been a lot of games we’ve played, but you can see that there are a lot of players who are used to playing so many games. You can see the resilience we have. 

You can see that we’re out there giving it our all, and that’s what we’ll keep doing: giving our all. 

This is the longest streak I’ve had in my career not scoring a goal, but the one thing about football is that it’s not about you personally – it’s about being a team player. 

That’s one thing I definitely believe I am doing: as much as I’m not scoring goals, I’m definitely bringing the team together. I think the team’s playing off me, I’m bringing players in and I’m assisting goals, so as much as I’m not scoring them, I feel that I am helping out.
 

It’s our first time in Europe so we are learning as we’re going. 

Different teams play differently and Lyon did like a lot of possession and they did slow it down, especially because they were playing away, but now, playing at home, they could completely change it and come and attack and go for it all. 

We’ve got to go out there in the first 15 minutes, judge how they’re playing, and play to beat them.’

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon