West Ham manager David Moyes has confirmed that Michail Antonio is set to return to club action on Tuesday night after returning from international duty, but revealed Manuel Lanzini and Arthur Masuaku remain doubts.
Antonio missed West Ham's FA Cup victory against Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday after flying home from international duty with Jamaica, where he played three World Cup qualifiers in seven days.
The Hammers scraped into the fifth round of the cup on Saturday after a late equaliser from Declan Rice sent the game to extra time, Jarrod Bowen securing a 2-1 win as penalties approached.
So the return of Antonio will be a welcome one, especially as Moyes was left sweating on his star man throughout his international duty.
“He has been away a couple of times now and I’ve had concerns about it, yes, because it is new to him,” Moyes said after full time on Saturday.
“It is not something he has been doing since he was 21 or 22 or something like that.
"Obviously they are long travels if you’re going to Jamaica… they’re long journeys to play the games. But I’ll never stop anybody if they want to play for their chosen country.”
West Ham fans will be relieved to hear that the striker has returned in fine shape and trained on Saturday rather than travel to Kidderminster with the rest of the squad.
Ahead of their clash with Watford on Tuesday night, Moyes confirmed the news, before announcing that Lanzini and Masuaku were both doubts.
"Mic is back," Moyes confirmed at his pre-match press conference ahead of their clash with Watford on Tuesday night.
"We had an injury to [Manuela] Lanzini and Arthur [Masuaku] so they are both ok but Arthur is set to see a specialist about his knee and Manu needed a little bit of time with an achilles so we are not sure about Manu.
"Mic has returned and had a couple of days training so hopefully he will be fit."
