David Moyes has revealed Michail Antonio is back out on the grass as he continues his recovery from his latest hamstring setback.
The striker returned from a month out with a different hamstring problem when he played 45 minutes of the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at the end of November at London Stadium.
However, he was hauled off at half time with a different hamstring issue having taken a whack on the leg from Villa defender Matty Cash and wasn’t risked any further.
Antonio has missed the defeat to Manchester United and the win over Leeds as he has been on the sidelines and will also sit out the midweek matchup with Crystal Palace on Wednesday in Stratford.
But there is a slim and outside chance that he could make a return to fitness for the visit to Chelsea on December 21 at Stamford Bridge for a London derby against Frank Lampard’s outfit.
Moyes said at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Palace game: “Michail is coming on, he is back on the grass.
“I think the game tomorrow (vs Palace) might come too early for him. He is coming on and we are getting him closer.
“We want to get him right, be correct with him. We are missing him and we know that.”
Later in the press conference Moyes referred to Antonio as West Ham’s “talisman” after making a massive impact since the first national lockdown and the suspension of football.
The winger turned striker netted eight times after the Premier League restart to effectively fire West Ham to Premier League safety in the 2019/20 season. He had also netted three times this season before suffering his first injury in a draw with Manchester City.
Sebastien Haller has been deputising in Antonio’s absence but has found the net just once, the winner against Sheffield United, and has had a frustrating time of it upfront but the Hammers have still managed to grind out results and have lost just twice in Antonio’s absence.
Moyes added: “We are looking capable of scoring goals in every game we play in and we have been doing that without our talisman in Micky Antonio. We have had to come through a period of five or six games without him and we have had to find a way of picking up results.
“We are looking forward to getting him back, but we know we will have to keep playing well to keep up this league position.”
The Hammers sit sixth in the Premier League after their fine start to the campaign, having temporarily hit fifth after beating Leeds last Friday before the weekend results knocked them down a place in the standings.
