Anxious Hammers Await Antonio Results

By lunch time today the West Ham United medical team will more than likely confirm a lengthy spell in the treatment room for Michail Antonio, just how long will be determined by a full scan today. Things are not looking too promising though, according to the vast majority of those who know and understand football injuries, the damage done to Antonio's hamstring could be really extensive.

A few years ago Antonio did suffer a similar injury to his other hamstring which eventually required surgery, unfortunately the damage sustained to his hamstring in the first five minutes of the EFL cup tie against Newport County looks to be even worse!

At the very best we are looking at a minimum of six weeks out, but if the hamstring is snapped it will require full surgery, potentially ruling out the dynamic attacker for up to six months. The Hammers injury curse is alive and well thank you very much, whether it was based at Chadwell Heath or newly installed at Rush Green, or in Antonio's case Rodney Parade.

There is no point in crying over spilled milk, Antonio's injury has happened, he will be a big miss but the team have to move on. Although he has looked well off the game pace since returning from his own long term injury, Andrily Yarmolenko could fill the void left by Antonio. Yarmolenko's style of play is different, he prefers to cut in on his left foot from the right side of the pitch as opposed to just steamrolling forward.

Injuries are part of the modern day game, it's just a pity that Hammers are 'more modern' than other clubs, fingers will be crossed ahead of Antonio's scan, but the news is either going to be bad, or awful. - Ed