West Ham are left with two senior strikers after Michail Antonio suffered a hamstring injury against Newport County and his fate has now been confirmed.
The 29-year-old is set for a four-month spell on the sidelines – according to The Evening Standard – unlikely to be seen again until the new year.
Football.London journalist Sam Inkersole has revealed that Antonio has successfully undergone surgery but this is now his third serious hamstring injury, which have before kept him out for 124 days and 132 days respectively.
The Englishman had just been getting back to his best as well, with a game-changing cameo appearance against Watford from the bench, resulting in West Ham winning 3-1.
Confirmed news of his injury couldn’t have come at a worse time either, since West Ham have just sold Javier Hernandez to Sevilla.
Now, Sebastien Haller and Albian Ajeti are the clubs only two senior strikers available for selection currently, with Xande Silva expected back in October.
Out wide, West Ham still have a number of options to cover for Michail Antonio’s absence and the Hammers can count themselves lucky Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko are reaching top form.
But yet again with the season just a month old, West Ham are facing the same difficulties with keeping players fit.
Winston Reid still hasn’t featured competitively, Sebastien Haller and Felipe Anderson both missed the game against Brighton and now Michail Antonio is forced to sit on the sidelines.
Frustrations from West Ham fans are summed up with three words from this reply down below…
So west ham
— Ross (@Rosspipesy) September 4, 2019