Insider ExWHUEmployee has claimed that West Ham United are "confident" Michail Antonio will be available to play in the Europa Conference League this week.
What's the latest West Ham injury news?
On Thursday night, the Hammers will take part in one of the biggest games in their recent history as they face AZ Alkmaar away from home.
This is of course as they push to make a European final having won the first leg of their semi-final encounter 2-1 at the London Stadium thanks to goals from Said Benrahma and Antonio.
Worryingly for West Ham, however, their key striker was missing this weekend in the 2-0 loss away at Brentford due to a calf injury and there has been doubt about his availability.
After all, following that defeat, manager David Moyes told football.london: “I’ve no idea yet how he is going to be for Thursday yet.”
Talking on The West Ham Way podcast about the latest concerns, though, Ex revealed that the club are optimistic he will play.
He said (0:20): “Obviously Antonio missed the whole of the game against Brentford. He wasn't even on the sub's bench. So people were concerned because he was seen limping at the end of the game on Thursday.
"I don't know 100% that he's guaranteed to be fit for Thursday, but I'm pretty sure that he is. When I asked about this to the club, they said it's typical Antonio, he often limps at the end of games, we're confident he'll be available.
"So hopefully with that in mind, it was the right decision to give him no minutes against Brentford. Because he is so important to us on Thursday, I believe that he should be available.”
Will Michail Antonio play against AZ Alkmaar?
No doubt, the Irons will be desperate to see their £85k-p/w striker fit to start on Thursday. After all, he does 14 goals this season, making him the club's top scorer across all competitions.
And maybe it's no shock to heat this claim that his minor injury scare is quite "typical". Indeed, Antonio has been sidelined frequently in recent seasons, but most of the issues haven't been major, often keeping him out for just a brief period.
With that in mind, perhaps this will be the case once again and the striker will return to the pitch on Thursday night in Europe having only missed a single game.
That would certainly be a huge boost for the Hammers.