The Athletic’s West Ham United correspondent Roshane Thomas has recently shed light on Michail Antonio’s hamstring issue.
Back in October, the English attacker was brought off during the 1-1 draw with Manchester City and then spent a few weeks sidelined through a hamstring issue (per The Guardian).
The 30-year-old forward made a return to action for West Ham during their 2-1 victory over Aston Villa, however, was removed after 45 minutes of action (per Transfermarkt).
Antonio was removed from the game due to a ‘new problem’ and Claret and Hugh have claimed that he could be absent for the Irons’ next two games.
During the latest episode of The Athletic’s U Irons podcast, Thomas shed some light on how the injury occurred against the Villans.
He said: “With Antonio, a lot of fans are of the opinion that [David] Moyes rushed him and that’s why he got injured.
“But the backstory behind this is, around the 30-minute mark against Aston Villa, Matty Cash clipped Antonio’s heel, and then that affected Antonio’s hamstring.
“This is what Moyes told me in the press conference after the match – he could only run at about 75%, and Moyes was like, ‘Well, I can’t have you running [at] 75%, I need you to run [at] 100%.’
“So, that is why he was taken off at half time. It wasn’t a case of Moyes rushing him back, it was literally because of Matty Cash clipping his heel and then that affected him.”
TIF Thoughts on what Roshane Thomas said about Michail Antonio’s injury…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, Antonio’s latest injury issue is not to do with Moyes rushing him back to match action and instead because of an incident with Cash.
Do you still think Michail Antonio was rushed into match action?
Yes, he shouldn't have played
No, I think Moyes got it right
Hopefully, the Hammers can get the frontman back in action sooner rather than later as he is a key player for the London Stadium outfit.
While Jarrod Bowen has been West Ham’s top scorer in the league this season with four, Antonio is not far behind with three and he has scored those in four fewer games (per WhoScored).
The 30-year-old attacker is also the Irons’ second-best performer in the top flight with a 7.12/10 average rating, trailing only Tomas Soucek.
So, hopefully, West Ham can have Antonio fit and firing before too much longer.