Michail Antonio prefers wing role but is happy as long as West Ham win
Thursday 1 December 2016 14:57, UK
West Ham's Michail Antonio admits his favourite position is on the wing but says he is happy with his current role under manager Slaven Bilic.
The 26-year-old played right-back last season, but after struggling in that position in the game against Chelsea on the opening day, he has since been moved further forward.
The Hammers have deployed a back three in recent matches and Antonio has played right wing-back, where he has scored six goals this season making him West Ham's top scorer.
"My favourite position is playing on the wing. I prefer to play left wing, that's my favourite role," said Antonio, speaking at an event to showcase the new Facebook-owned Oculus Touch controllers.
"I would like to be a winger in a four, like a 4-4-2, but right now I'm playing wing back and playing well so I just have to take it and keep going.
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"I haven't spoken to the manager about it. I don't feel the need because since we've changed it we've been doing well.
"I'm a team player. I played right back last season for half the season and now I'm playing wing-back but I'm scoring goals, I'm playing well so I can't really complain."
West Ham have struggled to find any consistency this campaign and sit 16th, just a point above the relegation zone, ahead of Saturday's game at home to Arsenal.
Despite winning just three of their opening 13 matches and after the EFL Cup quarter-final 4-1 loss to Manchester United, Antonio believes Bilic bears little responsibility for the team's poor position in the table.
"You see he is very passionate but he's a person you always feel you can go and speak to," Antonio added.
"When we were losing and things weren't going well, he sat us all down and said, 'I can't put it down to your performances because we've been playing well. It's down to individual mistakes so what can I do to stop these mistakes?'
After Arsenal, West Ham face a difficult trip to Liverpool is followed by games against Burnley, Hull and Swansea before they finish the year away to champions Leicester.
"We never thought we would be in the position that we are," Antonio said. "The lucky thing is everyone is beating everyone so if we go on a good run we'll be back up to where we feel we should be.
"We're showing the resilience we have and that we are a threat. Now in the second half of the season we're going to pick up and keep going.
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