From the Boardroom - David Gold

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want to wish Michail Antonio the best of luck as England prepare to play their first World Cup qualifier at Wembley against Malta on Saturday.


This is another fantastic opportunity for him and the key for him now is to keep getting selected in the squad and eventually his chance will come.


There is a new man in charge and I am sure that Michail will be keen to impress him and show the form which has made him such a star performer in the opening part of the season.


You wonder where we would be without his five goals this season and he is getting stronger and a major threat to the opposition. There is no reason why he cannot show the same kind of form for England.


The best stat you can look for in a player is the number of goals you score in a season. It catches the eye of the national manager and gets you an England call-up.


You cannot question his work-rate and people are aware of his ability. He now wants to get into the England team.


Michail also has a great personality and you may have seen the stories in the national press about him driving 135 miles to present his West Ham shirt at a charity event in Birmingham to help with an auction for neonatal units across the region.


That typifies what Michail is about and it became very evident when I first met him that he is a caring person.


He never forgets his upbringing and recently went back to his secondary school to meet up with his former teachers and share his experiences with the current students. You can read that story on whufc.com over the weekend.


I still remember the early part of his career when he couldn't get into the team at West Ham and I told him that his time would come. He has now done that and is now in the England squad.


He has had a great upbringing progressing through the ranks from non-league and fighting every inch of the way. It is a tough learning curve and all about character building.


Michail is one of many players who are away on international duty and I wish the best of luck to all of our players who are representing their countries over the next few days.


I want internationals playing for our football club and I hope they come back injury free.


Talking of injuries, I am delighted that Aaron Cresswell managed to play 50 minutes in a practice game at the Club's training ground on Thursday.


Aaron's return to the first-team will give everyone a lift and is a bit of good news that we are looking for.


He is an important player for the team and we need to start keeping some clean sheets again.


I have to mention the Dimitri Payet goal against Middlesbrough last weekend. A goal like that can help change a season and it certainly lifted the players, the manager, the board and all the fans.


Dimi is a remarkable player and it was a special goal. People talk about the famous Paolo Di Canio goal against Wimbledon but this will be up there with it.


We are desperate to get out of the bottom three and hopefully things will look a lot different in the next few weeks if we manage to get a few victories under our belt.


I am not a big fan of the international break but I was fortunate enough to watch the Ryder Cup last weekend. The standard of golf that we being played was on another level.


I am still celebrating my first ever hole in one but when I see these guys in action, it makes me realise I have still got a long way to go!


They keep going for these younger guys to get into the team and I think my chances have probably gone now!


It would be nice if one of them could fluff a shot. It would make me feel a lot better about my own game!


They simply have natural ability and make it look so effortless. Despite the result, it was a joy to watch.