Declan Rice calls on West Ham team-mates to ease burden on Michail Antonio as striker battles goal drought

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_13 December 2021

Declan Rice has called on his West Ham team-mates to step up and help Michail Antonio as the striker battles a goal drought.

Antonio made a flying start to the season but has scored just one goal in his last 12 games for West Ham and failed to register a shot on target in yesterday’s goalless draw at Burnley.

West Ham had 60 per cent possession at Turf Moor but could not make their dominance pay and managed just three shots on target from 16 attempts.

The Hammers, who remain fourth despite slipping up, did have a good shout for a penalty overlooked when Dwight McNeil caught Craig Dawson in the first half, but they should have had enough to seal victory.

It is not the first time David Moyes has been left to rue missed chances, as West Ham squandered the opportunity to open up a three-point gap to fifth-placed Manchester United.

With Antonio out of form, Rice says others need to help out.

“I don’t think we can just rely on him to score all our goals,” said Rice.

“He scored so many at the start of the season. Yeah, it’s dried, but every striker goes through that patch. He’s still key for our team and the way that we play, but the goals need to start coming from other players, including myself.

“The chances we’ve had in the second half, getting into clear-cut positions to score goals, we probably should have come away with three points.”

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