Michail Antonio is fit for West Ham’s match against Everton following a two week rest from football after withdrawing from the Jamaica international squad. The Hammers striker was selected for the Reggae Boyz as they faced a trio of FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but rejected the call-up for ‘logistical and travel’ reasons. Instead of travelling to North America for three matches in the space of seven days, Antonio remained at West Ham’s Rush Green training base to prepare for a run of seven matches in 21 days. Ahead of Sunday’s clash with Everton Hammers boss David Moyes has declared Antonio is ready for the challenges to come and keen to see his striker continue his fine early season form.
David Moyes said: “I think he has been firing on all cylinders and I hope he is well-rested and I hope that has got some good training in. He chose not to go with Jamaica in the end because he felt that some of the logistics weren’t correct, but overall he is back and I hope he can continue in the good form he has been in since the start of the season.”
The manager did, however, admit that following the international break West Ham do have a couple of injury worries but would not confirm if there were any players totally out of contention for the trip.
David Moyes said: “Like everybody else we have probably got one or two injuries,” Moyes said. “One or two people, coming back from international duty that we will have to look after but it looks like this international break has taken its toll on a lot of people and we are no different. We might have some people who are not available.”
Before the international break Ryan Fredericks was the Hammers only injury concern after picking up a knee issue against Manchester United.