West Ham striker Michail Antonio is bullish in his view that he’ll have competition for his place this season.

The Jamaican international is under no illusion that the club are in the market to secure a new striker this season, and has made it very clear when talking to the clubs Official Website, that he sees himself as a 1st team player and will fight to keep his spot.

“I like competition, but I also like playing every week,” stated Antonio. “I don’t like coming off the bench. Even at my age now, when people are saying I should just relish the chance to play in the Premier League, my attitude is completely different – I want to play every single week.

“So, whoever comes in, I’ll be up for the competition. I’m the number nine for a reason. You can come in and try to take my place but, even at my age now, I’m still going to fight for my place and keep going because I feel like I still have the ability and I don’t think my legs have gone or my ability has gone.

“If I get to the stage where I feel the standard of my performances is plummeting, I’ll take a back seat, but right now I still feel good. All I care about is knowing there is an equal opportunity, and if there is an equal opportunity then I’ll fight for my place.”

Antonio also spoke of his current condition, with the players working hard to get back to fitness in Florida at present, as the striker feeling he is not far away to be ready for the new campaign in a few weeks time.

“I’ve only had three weeks off, so my body hasn’t actually started to lose much,” added the Hammers number 9. “It’s only when you get to the fourth week that it starts happening. I took two weeks off after the Copa América, then in the third week I did a couple of runs to ensure I kept my fitness up, so I feel like I’m fit and I’m getting there and we’ll see in the next couple of games.”

Our Hammers kick off the Premier League campaign at home to Aston Villa on the 17th August, with question marks over who will have arrived before that game to help bolster the squad – and whether Antonio will be once again leading the line.

Its expected to be a fierce encounter as we host a side who will be in the Champions League this season, so fans could be tempted to put their knowledge to the test and have a flutter on how they think the game will pan out, along with some other exciting features at sports betting at Non-GamStop-Betting.com.