West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has asked the club’s fans to be patient as Andy Carroll nears a return regular first-team football in the club’s bid to stay in the Premier League.
Carroll has been out of action for the majority of the season due to a foot injury, but he made his return as a substitute against Cardiff, picking up an assist as the Hammers won 2-0. He once again featured from the bench against Newcastle but he couldn’t help as they crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Upton Park.
That defeat saw them drop into the relegation zone, and Allardyce is refusing to rush Carroll back into action. The former Newcastle boss is considering using Carroll against Manchester City in the Capital One Cup semi-final, as he also welcomes back a number of first-team players.
He said: “Andy is going to compete in a game for the first time just a few days after playing on Saturday.
“This is something we are looking forward to in the hope that there are no problems and knowing he is getting even closer to a full 90 minutes.
“Our other scenario, from a defensive point of view, is to continue to try and get Joey O’Brien, Winston Reid and George McCartney back playing as quickly as we can.
“And we also have Ricardo Vaz Te to come back. He has been out for around 12 weeks and people tend to forget about the long-term injury list to people who are very important to our team, and squad.”
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