West Ham’s Michail Antonio sustained a knock on Thursday night but is expected to be available to play against Brentford on Saturday, writes the football.london.
The 33-year-old scored the winning goal in West Ham’s 2-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg at the London Stadium. Moyes had considered substituting the forward before his goal, but he admitted that Antonio had been feeling the effects of the knock sustained during the game. As a result, West Ham will assess Antonio and several others ahead of Sunday’s game.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Moyes said: “We are still assessing quite a lot of the players,”
“So, we are getting them all back in and trying to see how they are. Obviously, there are knocks and bruises from the game, but I am hoping that Mick [Antonio] is not too bad. I think [he will be available on Sunday]. But we have got to assess them and see how we are.”
Angelo Ogbonna was in doubt for the upcoming game as he missed the midweek match due to sickness. However, Moyes is optimistic about his chances of being fit for the weekend. On the other hand, there is good news for West Ham as Czech full-back Vladimir Coufal has returned to training after suffering a hamstring injury in the match against Manchester City, causing him to miss the last two games.
“He is starting to do some light jogging,” Moyes explained. “And so, he’s improving but he has just got a slight hamstring tweak and you are always not sure when the right time is [to bring him back to for match action].
“But he is a boy who wants to play and wants to get back quickly so it is always a positive sign and hopefully, we get him back soon too.”