By Kevin Phillips

30th Apr, 2022 | 6:56pm

West Ham news: Expert issues Michail Antonio verdict after new development - 'Jesus, wow'

David Moyes will not be tempted to rest Michail Antonio against Arsenal tomorrow (1 May) despite West Ham facing Eintracht Frankfurt just four days later.

That is according to former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips, who was speaking exclusively to Football Insider after the 32-year-old netted in the first leg defeat on Thursday (28 April).

The striker’s close-range effort in the 2-1 loss was his first goal in 10 outings for West Ham.

Antonio was rested for the trip to Chelsea last week (24 April) with David Moyes rotating his side with the Europa League clash in mind.

Phillips insisted Antonio will be desperate to play to try and unlock the goalscoring form which saw him score five in three at the start of this term.

When asked if Moyes will start the Jamaica international against Arsenal, he told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “Yeah, definitely.

“Strikers live on confidence, and they want to play week-in, week-out. It’s the manager’s decision, but I think Antonio would definitely want to play if you asked him.

“Why would you leave him out?

“I’d tell him to be careful out there – but also to go and get me another goal. Imagine what that would do for his confidence going into the game next Thursday.

“If gets back in amongst the goals, we know what he can do. Jesus, wow, he can really bully and dominate teams.

“He can be unplayable, and if he adds goals to that – it would be amazing for West Ham and David Moyes.”

Antonio has notched 11 goals and 10 assists in 42 games across all competitions for West Ham this term.

The Irons will face Rangers or RB Leipzig in the Europa League final if they can turn the tie around in Germany next Thursday (5 May).

In other news, pundit tips West Ham to seal “deal of all deals” as Gareth Bale cited.