Michail Antonio offers verdict on Jordan Hugill’s West Ham debut

Follow us on Google Discover

West Ham United snapped up Jordan Hugill from Preston North End last week.

West Ham United ace Michail Antonio has told the club’s official website that he was impressed with how new signing Jordan Hugill battled against Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Hammers slipped to a 3-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday afternoon, as Glenn Murray, Jose Izqueirdo and Pascal Gross found the net to hand the Seagulls all three points, with Javier Hernandez’s goal merely a footnote in the game.

West Ham’s six-game unbeaten Premier League run is now over, but manager David Moyes will now be hoping for a response against Watford at the London Stadium this weekend.

Moyes may well consider handing a start to new signing Jordan Hugill, who joined West Ham in a last-gasp deadline day move from Championship side Preston North End last week.

Hugill, 25, has hit 10 goals this season, and made his West Ham debut as a substitute against Brighton on Saturday, coming on for the final 10 minutes as the Hammers chased goals.

The target man couldn’t get West Ham back into the game, but he seemingly made an impression on new teammate Michail Antonio during his brief spell on the pitch.

Antonio has told the club’s official website that he thinks Hugill can make the step up from the Championship to the Premier League, as he just needs to get up to speed with the pace of the game in the top flight.

Antonio added that he thought Hugill ‘looked like an ox’ against Brighton, and was impressed with how he competed against Brighton defender Shane Duffy at the Amex Stadium.

“It’s one of those things where people talk about the Championship as if it is a foreign world, but there are very technical players down there who have quality!” said Antonio. “It’s a very physical game so being able to deal with the physicality down there, you can definitely deal with the physicality of the Prem.”

“It’s just about whether you are technically good and can keep up with the speed of the game. You can learn that in no time. As soon as you are down on the training ground, doing your training and learning, you are going to pick up speed and be a Premier League player in no time. I’ve not trained much with Jordan, but he came on on Saturday and looked like an ox! I’ve never seen anyone deal with [Brighton defender] Shane Duffy the way he just put him in his place,” he added.