Michail Antonio says 'relentless' West Ham fear no one with Champions League football in sight

Exclusive: Antonio says anything can happen with Hammers just two points off the top four
Out of my way: Michail Antonio beats Manchester United's Anthony Martial
(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Isaac Moore18 March 2016

It is 14 years since West Ham won at Chelsea — Paolo di Canio inspiring a 3-2 triumph — and in the interim they have managed just three goals at Stamford Bridge.

The Hammers head to west London tomorrow confident they can end that winless run and gain the victory that would lift them into the top four.

Of course, Chelsea are not the force of previous seasons but it would still be a significant victory in a campaign in which West Ham have knocked over the Premier League’s heavyweights. In fact, they have gained more points against top-10 opponents this term than any other side.

So what is the secret of their success?

“We’ve been relentless and we’re not afraid of any team,” West Ham winger Michail Antonio told Standard Sport. “We press teams and work hard. We know if we work hard in games then we’ve got the Midas touch.

“Right now we feel like we can beat every team. Every game we’ve got we’re going for three points. There’s no bonus points for us.

“We feel we’ve achieved something special already. We’re unbeaten at home since August and the consistency we’ve shown proves why we’re in and amongst it and only two points off the Champions League.

Deloitte Football Money League Top Twenty

1/20

“This season we’ve had the belief and managed to overcome the big clubs. We’re not concentrating on what other teams are doing. Our away performances have been superb too. We managed to come back from two goals down in the last 10 minutes at Everton, we’ve won at Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal.

“We’re not thinking about the top four. We’re taking each game as it comes. If we keep our consistency then anything can happen.”

It has been an impressive debut campaign in the top flight for Antonio. Having signed from Nottingham Forest in August, the 25-year-old has scored seven goals with three from his last four appearances, including the winner over Tottenham two weeks ago.

Dimitri Payet has made an even bigger impact since joining from Marseille in the summer and yesterday he was called up by France for the first time since June last year as he was named in the squad for the friendlies against Holland and Russia.

Last month, France coach Didier Deschamps suggested Payet would not force his way into the squad but he has changed his mind following the playmaker’s outstanding performances.

Antonio believes his team-mate should be regarded as the most “feared” player in the Premier League.

“Dimitri won the award for the best player in London and there are no small teams here,” said Antonio.

“He beat the likes of Willian, Mesut Ozil and Harry Kane — they are massive names. It shows that he is someone to be feared and he showed it again on Sunday against Man United with that amazing free-kick in the FA Cup.

“Dimitri’s got the grit and he’s not a player who just has flare — he puts in his shift for the team. He’s amazing to play with.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in