Antonio confident West Ham can still repeat last season’s heroics

West Ham challenged for a top-six Premier League finish last season but this time around have found the going tougher in the early stages of the campaign.

But Michail Antonio is convinced that Slaven Bilic’s men have turned the corner and will soon be challenging at the top end of the table again.

Victory over Crystal Palace last weekend lifted the Hammers out of the relegation zone but their home form has been a cause for concern.

They have only won one league game at their new ground and that was in the season opener against Bournemouth when Antonio got the winner.

But the winger – who was called up by England last month – is confident they can repeat the heroics of last season’s seventh-place finish.

“I believe we can achieve something similar to what we achieved last season. We have managed to get out of the bottom three and if you look at the league, we are not far away,” he said.

“Whoever can go on a good run now can move into the top half of the table.

“It was a very important victory against Crystal Palace last weekend. We have been playing well and have started games well. We have been on top of teams but then experience a lot of bad luck.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“I have never known a run where every time someone goes forward they put the ball in the back of the net. Things have not been going our way but it seemed to turn at Palace last Saturday.

“People have spoken about the London Stadium but the facilities are even better and I put it down to bad luck. We want our ability to come through and the results will get even better.

“We need to have a strong mentality and we always believe we can win. It has had nothing to do with us not believing.”