Slaven Bilic has confirmed that Andy Carroll is ready to return to the West Ham squad and have an “impact” in Saturday’s Premier League match with Arsenal.
Carroll, 27, has been missing from the side since August after suffering a knee injury. A mooted return against Manchester United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday failed to materialise as the Hammers lost 4-1 at Old Trafford. But now Bilic is ready to call on Carroll in a fixture the England striker dominated last season, scoring a towering hat-trick in a 3-3 draw.
“He will be in the squad so he’s ready,” said Bilic. “His absence was a very long one. It happened at the beginning of the season, so it’s been three months, so he’s definitely not ready to play 90 minutes but he’s ready for an impact.”
Not for the first time in his 18 months as manager the Croat went on to praise the England striker and said he played a central role in the Hammers’ seventh-place league finish last season.
“He is one of the reasons, along with Dimitri Payet, why we were so prolific last season in front of goal, why we were so versatile and, at end of the day, why we scored so many goals and finished so high in the table,” Bilic said.
“We had spells when he played a few games for 90 minutes,” he went on. “We also had spells when he made an impact from the bench and this was especially the case against Arsenal. It was basically him who brought us back in that game. The whole team had one of the best 45 minutes of last season then and that’s what he’s capable of.”
Bilic said he was also confident of welcoming another striker, André Ayew, back to his squad with the £20m summer signing returning to training on Friday. But there was also bad injury news for the Hammers. Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio – both of West Ham’s wing-backs in their 3-4-3 formation – will miss the Arsenal match.
“Ayew should be back in training today and, if he passes training, which we hope he does, then can be in the squad,” Bilic said. “I have just spoken to the medical team and unfortunately Cresswell and Antonio are out for tomorrow’s game. But the doctors are optimistic they’ll be ready for the next game against Liverpool.”
