Medical insider issues ‘desperate’ Michail Antonio claim after new West Ham injury
Michail Antonio was desperate to start for West Ham against Arsenal this week and would have asked David Moyes to play despite his calf injury.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Antonio’s desire to regain his starting spot at the London Stadium this season.
Moyes confirmed to the Official West Ham site last Friday (23 December) that both Antonio and Gianluca Scamacca were racing to be fit for the Boxing Day clash against Arsenal.
Antonio eventually won the race, recovering from a calf injury in time to start against the Gunners and play for 87 minutes before being taken off by the Scotsman.
With both Scamacca and Antonio wrestling for the starting spot in east London, it was a huge opportunity for the latter to get ahead of his rival.
Dinnery believes Antonio was desperate to impress Moyes and start ahead of Scamacca and therefore took a “calculated risk” with his injury.
“There had been talk prior to kick-off that Jarrod Bowen could play that central role if needed, so there were other options for Moyes,” Dinnery told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“In terms of that start for Antonio, we can read between the lines that Moyes was fairly happy about him going out there and performing and coming through the match without any major setbacks.
“But everything is a calculated risk, especially when looking at muscle and soft tissue injuries.
“Plus, Antonio is certainly a player that – by his own high West Ham standards – will be disappointed by his season so far and would have been desperate to go out there and get his name on the scoresheet in the absence of Scamacca.
“He wants to serve a timely reminder to Moyes that he is capable and can score and can push Scamacca hard. But it’s difficult to hit the ground running when coming off of these little injuries.
“But it does look like he might get another opportunity if Scamacca can’t shake his ankle injury in time.”
In other news, a medical expert cites Kevin De Bruyne when discussing Nayef Aguerd’s injury update at West Ham