West Ham duo Antonio, Sakho return for Arsenal trip
(Reuters) - West Ham United midfielder Michail Antonio and striker Diafra Sakho are expected to feature in Wednesday's Premier League trip to Arsenal, manager Slaven Bilic has said.
Antonio, the club's top scorer this season with nine goals, has recovered from a hamstring injury suffered against Leicester last month, while Sakho returned to training last week after four months out with a back injury.
"Mikey (Antonio) is available for tomorrow night and we'll decide today if he's going to start," Bilic told in a news conference on Tuesday.
"Diafra (Sakho) is back and when you talk to him he says he is ready. He was out for a long time, had a back operation, and looks good.
"Diafra may be on the bench tomorrow. I haven't decided yet, but he is very, very close."
After West Ham lost their fourth consecutive league game at Hull City on Saturday, the club's owners felt compelled to issue a statement saying they had "100 percent faith" in the manager.
Bilic was pleased to receive the vote of confidence and reiterated that he was not worried about his future at the club.
"I don't have to read the papers to know my relationship with the board," the 48-year-old Croatian added. "It's nice to hear it but I know I have the confidence of the board. When I wasn't worried before, I'm not relieved now."
West Ham, who are currently 14th in the league, have won four of their 15 away games this season.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru)