West Ham get great striker news ahead of Aston Villa clash with a welcome Michail Antonio boost after concerns.
West Ham travel to Aston Villa when the Premier League resumes at the weekend.
It promises to be a tightly contested match between two teams separated by just two places and two points in the table approaching the quarter-way stage.
West Ham have had much the better of this particular fixture in the last decade, losing just once in the Premier League to Aston Villa in 14 matches since 2013.
With the two sides well matched on paper, it could be a game of fine margins at Villa Park.
So the spotlight will be on strikers Ollie Watkins and Michail Antonio.
There have been worries about Antonio’s form and fitness of late.
The Hammers striker has been struggling for goals and has not scored for West Ham since the win at Brighton in August.
He also picked up an adductor strain against Sheffield United and needed a late fitness test before starting the draw with Newcastle last time out.
But Antonio came off in that game with 20 minutes left.
While Aston Villa’s excellent Watkins was called up by and scored for England during this international break, Antonio was selected for Jamaica duty.
That meant an arduous 10,000-mile round trip for matches against Grenada and Haiti.
With his recent injury, that was hardly ideal for West Ham boss David Moyes, whose back-up options are somewhat limited having elected not to sign a replacement for Gianluca Scamacca in the summer.
But West Ham get great striker news ahead of the Aston Villa clash with a welcome Antonio boost after concerns.
When Antonio did not feature in the Jamaica squad for the 4-1 win over Grenada on Friday night, despite reporting for duty, some were worried he has picked up a new injury.
But there’s relief after Antonio started, laid on an assist and put in a man of the match performance in the Reggae Boyz’ 3-2 win against Haiti overnight.
Perhaps the best news for West Ham – and not such good news for Villa – is that Antonio, who played 88 minutes, will be heading back to London today.
And that gives him nearly a full week to rest, recover from any jet lag and get ready for the Aston Villa match.
Had he played later in the week like most other nations are, it would have increased the risk factor for West Ham getting him back and ready come the weekend.
So this is great news for Moyes and the Hammers.
Antonio’s Jamaica teammate is Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey. And he scored what turned out to be the winner against Haiti.
