Dimitri Payet celebrates scoring West Ham's second goal against Crystal Palace

Michail Antonio has warned West Ham's opponents they will be punished by Dimitri Payet if they give away free-kicks.

The Hammers were inspired once more by a stunning Payet free-kick as they claimed a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday after going down to 10 men in the second half following Cheikhou Kouyate's red card.

And Antonio has backed the Frenchman to continue delivering the goods with his set-pieces.

"He doesn't really practice them, to be honest! I'd say that he just saves them for games - that kind of thing! You can see in the games that he has got it in the bag all the time," Antonio told his club's official website.

Payet stuns the Eagles with his free-kick

"He did it away with France against Russia and he did it again on Saturday, so it's just one of those things that you can't give us free-kicks because he will punish you!"

Antonio has found himself on the scoresheet often since arriving from Nottingham Forest at the beginning of the season but he showed his defensive qualities against Palace, coping with the wide threat posed by Bakary Sako and Yannick Bolasie.

"They have got players like Sako and Bolasie so it was a real challenge for me on Saturday, definitely," he added. "They're all decent, strong and have skill and it was a challenge for me.

Michail Antonio enjoyed the challenge against Palace

"I was pleased to be involved in another goal, with my cross to the back-stick being headed down by (Diafra) Sakho for Manu (Manuel Lanzini) to score."

Antonio and his team-mates will be looking to pile the pressure on fellow top-four challengers Manchester United when they host Arsenal on Saturday in a must-win game for the Hammers if they are to stay in the running for the Champions League places.