It was initially feared that Antonio would miss three months [Claret & Hugh, 19 November], but as per injury expert Ben Dinnery (22 November), the forward will only be out of action until 28 December.

Speaking to West Ham Zone, McAvennie said: “I don’t get why they don’t have cover, I don’t understand it. Ings is not cover for Antonio. You couldn’t get two completely different players. The two players might work together.

“Antonio is Moyes’s kind of player, he holds the ball, fights for it. And Ings just wants to score goals, he wants to get things made for him.

“They are going to miss him, that’s for sure. You look at last year, he was injured a lot,  but they didn’t find a replacement. The older you get, the easier it is to get injured.

“They can wrap him in cotton wool all they want, but he’s still going to be injured, so I don’t know why they didn’t get someone in who can do the same kind of job. You can’t change the system around just because the striker is injured.”

Jamaican international Antonio has scored two goals and has provided two assists in all competitions this season, having been heavily relied upon by Moyes.

His minutes on the pitch have come at the expense of Ings and Mubama, who have found it difficult to land playing time despite the Hammers competing in various competitions.

Ings could be handed a rare start by his manager when the East London outfit visit the striker’s former club Burnley on Saturday (25 November).

In other West Ham news, a journalist has told a “red-hot” Hammers ace what he “must” do to land a Euro 2024 place.