Antonio Opens Up Over Injury Fears

West Ham utility man Michail Antonio admits he feared picking up further injuries this season after struggling over the past few years.

The 28-year-old established himself as a key figure for the capital outfit after joining from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2015.

His form caught the eye of England boss Gareth Southgate and he was called into the squad for the friendly against Germany and the 2018 World Cup qualifier with Lithuania.

However, he sustained a minor injury and had to withdraw before returning to action two-and-a-half weeks later against Arsenal.

Antonio went on to suffer a more serious injury in April 2017, which ended his campaign, and his 2017-18 season was littered with injuries.

The utility man has stayed clear of issues in 2018-19 and believes his confidence has come back after admitting he initially feared pushing himself too hard.

“It’s taken time to get where I am and I now have the stamina to be out there running at people and taking people on constantly,” Antonio told West Ham’s official website.

“Hopefully, I keep going, I can stay in the team and keep impressing. Right now, I need to start scoring and creating more goals as they are the parts of my game I’ve not got back properly yet, so hopefully that will start happening sooner rather than later.

“I’m getting into good positions, which is a positive, but it’s about hitting the back of the net now. I don’t know why I’m not scoring, but I’ll keep working on it, keep doing it in training and hopefully it will come naturally to me on matchday.”