Michail Antonio explains why ‘unbelievable’ teammate is getting his vote for West Ham’s player of the season

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It is not often West Ham United fans are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing their Hammer of the Year.

ExWHUemployee delivers brilliant Rice update and news of another injury boost

West Ham are on course for their best ever Premier League season.

In fact in terms of winning, David Moyes’s side have already recorded the most victories in the club’s Premier League history.

West Ham spoilt for choice over Hammer of the Year award

There have been a host of standout performers for West Ham this season.

Declan Rice, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio have all been hugely influential. But all four have had spells out of the team injured.

Pablo Fornals has been excellent for most of the season while Jesse Lingard’s amazing impact also puts him in contention.

For most fans, though, the player of the season is between Czech mates Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek.

Fans torn between Czech mates Tom and Vlad

The pair were signed for a combined bargain £23.5million from Slavia Prague last summer and have been revelations for West Ham.

Coufal has emerged as the new favourite to win the Hammer of the Year with his consistently brilliant performances at right-back.

It comes as Soucek has been forced into a more disciplined defensive role in the absence of Rice.

But speaking in an interview with Sky Sports Antonio made it clear who will be his pick for the award.

Antonio explains why ‘unbelievable’ Soucek gets his vote for player of the season

“Player of the year, for me, it has to be Tomas,” Antonio told Sky Sports.

“He’s just been unbelievable. He scores goals, breaks things down and the mileage that he has put in this season has been unbelievable.”

From a statistical point of view, Soucek is head and shoulders West Ham’s most influential player this season.

The much-loved midfielder is West Ham’s best player statistically with an average match rating of 7.30 (WhoScored.com).

And that makes him the 10th best player in the entire Premier League too, with Tottenham’s Harry Kane top with an average match rating of 7.77.

The 26-year-old has also been West Ham’s only ever-present. And he has set a new Premier League record for aerial duels won which had stood for more than a decade.

Some fans have been disappointed to see Soucek’s goals dry up of late. But he is very much sacrificing himself for the good of the team. Soucek is not getting forward as much due to Rice’s continued absence.

But West Ham fans are hoping that absence will come to an end this weekend with Rice and Soucek set to be reunited in the Hammers midfield for the game against Brighton.

David Moyes delivers positive injury update ahead of Brighton game