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West Ham United handed triple fitness boost for AEK Larnaca clash

sportsmole.co.uk, 8 March 2023, 14:09
West Ham United manager David Moyes has confirmed that Michail Antonio, Angelo Ogbonna and Thilo Kehrer will all travel with the first-team squad to Cyprus for the first leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 tie against AEK Larnaca on Thursday.

Antonio missed the disappointing 4-0 Premier League defeat away at Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend due to a hamstring injury, while Ogbonna was forced off at the Amex Stadium with a minor knee ligament problem.

Kehrer, meanwhile, watched on as an unused substituted against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United before missing the defeat at Brighton through illness.

However, Moyes has provided a positive update on the Hammers trio, who are all set to be in contention to feature at the AEK ARENA on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Moyes said: "Micky (Antonio) is travelling with us. He felt a bit of a hamstring after the game at Old Trafford but is with us for this game.

"Thilo Kehrer is travelling with us as well after his illness. Angelo Ogbonna had a bit of a medial knee ligament injury at Brighton and we took him off as a precaution, but he'll be okay and will be with us for tomorrow's game."

Moyes has also revealed that Maxwel Cornet will travel with the West Ham squad, although the winger is not expected to feature as he continues to recover from a long-term calf injury that has kept him out since October.

"I'm bringing Maxi Cornet with me too," Moyes added. "I'm not thinking he's ready to play yet, but I'm bringing him with me to be in the squad. Maybe he's more likely to be ready after the international break."

In addition, Moyes has confirmed that right-back Vladimir Coufal remains sidelined with a "plantar fascia issue in his heel" and there is currently no timeframe on his potential return to action, while goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is also out after fracturing his cheekbone and eye socket in the win over Forest last month.

Moyes, who has come under increased pressure following the dreadful loss at Brighton, is keen for his Hammers side to quickly bounce back from Saturday defeat and has expressed his excitement to be competing in Europe for a second successive season following their journey to the Europa League semi-finals last season.

"We're really looking forward to it (competing in the Europa Conference League). It's a big opportunity and great that we're at this stage of the competition," said the Scotsman.

"To reach a quarter final two years in a row would be huge. We're looking forward to the game and not for a minute underestimating it, because we know we've got a tough game on our hands.

"To win any trophy being a manager or a player, very few get that opportunity. Jose Mourinho showed how much it meant to him (after winning the competition with Roma last season), he's a serial winner.

"We wanted desperately to win the Europa League. We've got a job to do to reach a quarter-final now and I think that would be seen as a hell of an achievement to do that two years in a row.

Moyes added: "Defeats are never a good thing, but in the main since we've come back from the World Cup, results have steadily gone up the way rather than down the way.

"The game at Old Trafford took a lot out of us and it was always going to be a tough game at Brighton. You have to move on and we have a great opportunity in this tie."

West Ham are competing in the last 16 after finishing top of their group with a perfect record of six wins from as many matches, while AEK Larnaca finished third in their Europa League group before edging past Dnipro-1 1-0 on aggregate in their Europa Conference League playoff tie last month.

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