David Sullivan has his say on West Ham forward’s international snub

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West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan has spoken out about Michail Antonio’s England snub.

West Ham’s Michail Antonio looks dejected

Interim Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate dropped Antonio from his squad to face Scotland and Spain.

The Hammers have endured a terrible season so far and sit 17th in the Premier League, just one point off the bottom three.

West Ham United’s Michail Antonio celebrates

But one of the club’s shining lights has been top scorer Antonio who has consistently delivered for Slaven Bilic’s side so far with six goals, making him one of the highest scoring Englishmen in the top flight this season.

He was at it again on Saturday, scoring West Ham’s goal in their 1-1 draw against Stoke City.

Antonio was proud to be named in the last two England squads

Antonio was included in the last two squads by Sam Allardyce and his replacement Southgate.

But he was not given a single minute of action during either international break and even Andros Townsend, who was handed a late call-up to replace an injured squad member for the October internationals, got game time ahead of the powerful winger.

The likes of Jack Wilshere, Townsend and Jesse Lingard have all received call-ups to Southgate’s squad for the games against Scotland and Spain.

But former Nottingham Forest man Antonio, who has worked his way up from non league to Premier League, has been snubbed altogether and now Sullivan has had his say on the matter on the club’s official website.

West Ham co owner David Sullivan

“It was obviously disappointing for Michail Antonio to miss out on a place this time around,” Sullivan told whufc.com.

“But if he continues to show his early season form, I have no doubts that he can quickly win back his place in the England squad.

“We have been saying for some time that our players deserve the chance to break into the England squad and with the next World Cup in 2018, we would love to see our players performing on the biggest stage in world football.”

Some Hammers fans felt former England boss Roy Hodgson had a vendetta against their club as he continually ignored their players during his tenure.

Former Hammers boss Allardyce seemed to change that when he gave Antonio his first call-up during his short stint in the Three Lions hotseat.

The same accusation cannot necessarily be levelled at Southgate, though, as he has called up left back Aaron Cresswell to his latest squad, something the East London club’s supporters have felt is long overdue.