Clubs sweat on return of Reggae Boyz Antonio, Roofe

LONDON (CMC):

MANAGER DAVID Moyes says West Ham United could be without as many as seven senior players – including Reggae Boy striker Michail Antonio – for their English Premier League match at Southampton on Sunday.

The Hammers, who sit in 13th place, have been dealt a number of fresh blows in the build-up to and following their 2-1 win over Anderlecht in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, which saw them book a place in the knock-out rounds with two group matches to spare.

During the win, centre-back Angelo Ogbonna came off in the first half with concerns over a tight hamstring, while his replacement, Craig Dawson, suffered with a dead leg, first picked up in last Sunday’s win over Fulham.

The 32-year-old Antonio and centre-back Kurt Zouma both missed the Europa game after suffering with a recent illness.

Speaking about the duo, Moyes said on Friday that Antonio has slightly improved and hopes the duo will be fit enough to go to St Mary’s today.

“Antonio is a little bit better, Kurt felt a bit of the sniffles, so we will have to see how he is as well,” explained Moyes. “Hopefully, they will have a chance.”

Another Reggae Boy, Kemar Roofe, has not played for Scottish Premiership club Rangers this season because of a long-term injury, but the 29-year-old striker has been seen back in first-team training.

Ibrox manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has previously spoken about the player’s return and claimed he hopes it’s “sooner rather than later” for both the player and team’s sake.

“Kemar Roofe is training parts of the training sessions now so we need to keep assessing him and see when he is back,” said the manager.

“Hopefully that is sooner rather than later – both for Kemar and me as a coach.”

Roofe scored 17 goals in 41 games for Rangers last season.