West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has delivered an exciting update for the fans by revealing Marko Arnautovic is likely to be back for their clash against Crystal Palace this coming weekend.
The Austrian talisman was missing from the Hammers side who managed to pull off a 1-1 draw with title hopefuls Liverpool on Monday night, Michail Antonio stepping up to score the Irons’ equaliser.
However Rice may have dropped the ball over his teammate’s status, hinting that he would be back to try and clip the wings of the Eagles.
He told Football.London: “We were excellent (v Liverpool) and we have got to build on that now. We can do that if we go out there against Palace with the same attitude and desire. Marko will be back for that as well.”
Opinion
If manager Manuel Pellegrini thought he could keep a wrap over whether Arnautovic would be ready to take on Palace this weekend, Rice has just blown his cover. It is pretty clear that when fully fit the Austrian will start but it would have been seen as something of an advantage for the Irons had they been able to keep the opposition guessing until the final moments – although they still could spring a surprise by not risking the striker after his injury layoff. The game against Palace is one which the Hammers will be hoping to pick up three points from after a confidence building draw against Liverpool but it was clear against the Reds just how much firepower they were lacking despite the point they managed to snatch. The likes of Javier Hernandez and Andy Carroll have to try and have more of an impact when Arnautovic is missing – otherwise Pellegrini’s men just look a little toothless.