Mark Noble has made it clear that Mickey Antonio’s welfare has to remain a top priority at West Ham.

He knows that the striker needs to be carefully managed because – as demonstrated at Leeds – he is a totally key man at the club.

“There’ll be times we haven’t got him this season, but he’s been so good for us over the years,” Noble told whufc.com. per Hammers News

“For how much we bought him for, value for money, what he’s given to the team and given to the club, he’s been phenomenal, and he deserves all the credit he’s getting at the minute and we are going to need him for sure in a lot of games this year.

“We also have to be careful because you can’t just play him every week and in midweek games in Europe and cup games because it’s not fair to him. He needs to be fresh and bright and he needs to be the Mich we know.

“I’m pretty sure the manager will judge when to put him in and take him out, and he’s a really valuable asset to our team at the moment.”