West Ham have officially announced Michail Antonio has withdrawn from the England squad for their upcoming matches against Germany and Lithuania through injury.
Slaven Bilic revealed after their 3-2 defeat to Leicester that Antonio had suffered a hamstring injury during the match despite playing the whole game and that his availability for Gareth Southgate was in doubt.
Antonio was West Ham’s sole representation in Southgate’s England squad after the Three Lions’ boss chose to overlook Andy Carroll and Antonio could have made his international debut over the next two weeks.
“Michail Antonio has been withdrawn from England’s squad for their games against Germany and Lithuania next week after picking up a hamstring injury in Saturday’s 3-2 loss against Leicester City,” a statement read on West Ham’s official website.
“The West Ham No30 was hoping to earn his first caps for the Three Lions after being called up to the squad for a third time, but will now have to wait for his opportunity.
“Antonio was withdrawn from the squad after being assessed by both the Hammers’ and the England medical teams and will remain at Rush Green during the international break.”
The 26-year-old has been in fine goalscoring form since the start of last season and he has proven deadly in front of goal with his head. In fact, no player has scored more headed goals in the Premier League in that time than Antonio (12).
For more stats on Michail Antonio, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
