There are conflicting reports about Michail Antonio’s injury situation but there may be some good news in terms of the timing.
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Antonio felt discomfort in his troublesome hamstring during both of West Ham’s last two games against Tottenham and Manchester City.
David Moyes did not appear overly concerned after the game insisting Antonio’s substitution was more precaution.
Hammer blow for Moyes as Antonio is ruled out after conflicting reports
Although he did reveal the striker would be sent for a scan.
Earlier this week The Athletic claimed Antonio ‘should be fine’ for West Ham’s game against Liverpool on Saturday evening.
But last night talkSPORT reported that the powerful, hard-working forward is out for four weeks.
It is a huge blow to West Ham, who have been in impressive form during a run of horrendous fixtures.
Antonio very much makes the Hammers tick in Moyes’s new formation.
His potential replacement, Sebastien Haller, divides opinion and certainly does not offer the same workrate as a lone forward.
Silver lining for West Ham as striker may only miss three games
There may be a silver lining to the cloud for West Ham, though.
If Antonio is indeed out for four weeks, he will only miss three West Ham games.
The striker would be out for the game against Liverpool and the home match against struggling Fulham next weekend.
A two-week international break then takes place after which Antonio will probably miss Sheffield United away on November 22nd.
Michail back for Villa?
But with West Ham then not back in action until the Monday the 30th against Aston Villa, Antonio should – if last night’s reports are correct – be back.
West Ham fans will find out more this morning when Moyes goes in front of the press for his pre-Liverpool press conference.
Although the Scot may be reluctant to put a timescale on Antonio’s return or give anything away about who might replace him.
It was telling against Man City that Moyes replaced Antonio with Andriy Yarmolenko rather than Haller.
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