West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui revealed the squad are set to visit Michail Antonio within the next day or two as the forward continues his recovery after a “miracle” escape from a car crash.
Antonio was involved in a road traffic accident in Essex last Saturday, which had everyone fearing the worst before confirmation came he was in a stable condition in hospital. The 34-year-old has since undergone surgery on a lower limb fracture, but still faces weeks in hospital recovering from multiple injuries.
Antonio had been able to speak to his Irons’ team-mates via a video call from his hospital bed before they beat Wolves 2-1 on Monday night.
West Ham players wore ‘Antonio 9’ shirts while warming up and ahead of kick-off at the London Stadium, with the kit signed by the players – including Antonio – then auctioned off with the proceeds going to the NHS and Air Ambulances UK.
Lopetegui knows Antonio faces a long road ahead back to full fitness, but hopes the support of the club will help him on his rehabilitation journey.
“We are going to visit him today or tomorrow,” Lopetegui said at a press conference ahead of Monday night’s trip to Bournemouth. “But the main thing is we are very happy because he is recovering very well. We are very close to him and his family and we wish him the best for the next days.
“The best news about Michail Antonio was that he was able to talk with us before the (Wolves) match – (because) looking at the car crash, it was one miracle (he was OK), so we are happy for him. Now for sure he is strong, he is recovering himself in the next months to be a man first and then a player.”
West Ham defender Emerson will be suspended for the trip to Bournemouth having collected a fifth yellow card of the season during the win over Wolves. Germany forward Niclas Fullkrug made a welcome return earlier this month following his calf and Achilles problems with a late goal when coming off the bench in the 3-1 defeat at Leicester.
Lopetegui hopes Fullkrug, a summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, should soon be back to full match fitness, having been an unused substitute against Wolves.
“He was out for a long time, and now he has recovered and day by day he is getting better,” the West Ham boss said. “It is good news for us that he is back. He has been working in the normal way for the last 10 days and he is ready.”
On Friday afternoon, West Ham announced the death of under-15s academy goalkeeper Oscar Fairs following a battle with cancer.
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