West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini insists he has no issue with Lucas Perez despite substitute controversy against Everton
The Spaniard appeared to refuse to warm up when Marko Arnautovic needed to be replaced
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Your support makes all the difference.Manuel Pellegrini insisted that there are no issues with Lucas Perez despite the striker appearing to refuse to come on as a substitute in the second half of West Ham’s 3-1 win over Everton.
TV cameras appeared to catch Perez angrily refusing to warm up when it became clear that Marko Arnautovic had picked up an injury and needed to be withdrawn, with Pellegrini eventually turning to Michail Antonio as the Austrian’s replacement in the 64th minute.
West Ham withstood waves of late Everton pressure to earn their first points of the season at Goodison Park, the win ultimately secured by a first-half double from summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko and Arnautovic’s third Premier League goal of the campaign.
Asked about Perez by Sky Sports, Pellegrini said: “Maybe it looks [that way] and you can think he refuses.
“When Arnautovic was injured, I called him because he was making his warm-up, but when he was back sitting on the bench and Antonio was working I called him because he was ready.
“I don't have any problem with the player.”
Aside from the Perez controversy, the only concern on a positive day for West Ham was the injury to Arnautovic, who has now registered nine Premier League goals and seven assists in 2018.
“It was really important for us to come back and put a performance in after our first four results,” the Austria international said.
“We start from the goalkeeper and everyone did an unbelievable job today. The midfield was great and then it's our job to score goals.”
Pressed on the severity of his injury, Arnautovic replied: “I don't know - we need to check now. It's not my calf, it's behind my knee. We will have to see for next week because it is hurting now.”
West Ham had lost all of their first four Premier League matches ahead of the trip to Goodison Park, and captain Mark Noble credited “home truths” spoken among the players following a 1-0 home defeat against Wolves prior to the international break for their spirited response.
“The table looks a bit better now after our first three points,” he said. “We spoke openly after the Wolves game together and we had some home truths. Sometimes that's what you need, and since then we've had two hard weeks of training.
“Today was about the result more than the performance and the three points are a massive boost for us.”
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