Michail Antonio has shared an admission about the West Ham squad ahead of the game against Freiburg on Thursday (7 March).
Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast on Tuesday (5 March), the Jamaican international said the Hammers’ squad isn’t “massive anymore” after losing a few players in the January transfer window.
The 33-year-old forward added that it’s “going to take its toll” on the team managing the Premier League alongside their Europa League campaign as they look to secure a first-leg lead when they face the Bundesliga side.
“We’re playing [Burnley] at home – we’re on a good run of form right now,” said Antonio. “Obviously, we have got a game midweek so it’s just making sure we don’t let Europe affect our Premier League run.
“The squad isn’t massive anymore. We lost a couple of players in January, so it is going to take its toll on the boys but we’re used to it. This is the third year running [in Europe] now so we just have to keep building on it and keep going.”
West Ham squad will be tested in Europa League
The West Ham squad is certainly going to be tested over the coming weeks as the fixtures begin to pile up again for David Moyes’s side.
They will be desperate to come away from Germany with a positive result after seeing off Freiburg twice already in the competition this season.
It looks as though they are heading into the game in a reasonably healthy position, with just Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet likely to miss the last-16 tie.
The Hammers are in a much better position than they were a couple of weeks ago after back-to-back victories over Brentford and Everton.
This is an extremely important game in our season as we look to book our place in the next round of the completion and ensure it’s another successful campaign.
