Sam Allardyce admits Andy Carroll must be considered doubtful for England duty after picking up a knock on his West Ham debut against Fulham.
Striker likely to miss England duty after picking up debut knock
Sam Allardyce admits Andy Carroll must be considered doubtful for England duty after picking up a hamstring injury on his West Ham debut against Fulham.
The Hammers were delighted to secure the services of the powerful frontman on a season-long loan from Liverpool towards the end of the summer transfer window.
He was handed his Upton Park bow on Saturday and made a positive first impression for his new club as he inspired the Hammers to a 3-0 half-time lead.
Carroll's afternoon was to be cut short, though, on 68 minutes as he limped from the field and it is now unlikely that he will be ready for 2014 World Cup qualification duty with England or West Ham's upcoming Premier League fixtures.
"I think it will be unlikely that he goes now, sadly," Allardyce told
Sky Sports.
Unusual
"He's desperate to play football and we had Carlton (Cole) ready and warmed up and ready to go and it was going to be the next couple of minutes or so to substitute him anyway.
"Unusually, he did it on the jump. We will have to see how it is tomorrow and talk with England.
"I don't think he has much chance, sadly for Roy (Hodgson). That's not to detract from the performance today and the quality of our goals."
West Ham edged in front against the Cottagers with just 53 seconds on the clock, through Kevin Nolan, and added two further goals before the interval as Winston Reid and Matt Taylor found the target.
Allardyce was full of praise for the performance from his side at the final whistle, with the Hammers proving that they are deserving of a standing back among England's elite.
Terrific
He said: "It was a terrific performance. At the end of the day you have to make sure you put the result at the end of it and I think there was no question about the performance or the result being the right one today.
"Fulham were out of sight before half-time, and that doesn't happen too often to a newly-promoted side just finding its feet back in the Premier League again.
"To create and take the opportunities we created today was fabulous in the first 45 minutes. The ones we missed were ones that I was getting disappointed with because all of the good play in the early stages resulted in only one goal and you know what the Premier League can do to you - one slip, one mistake and the opposition get back in.
"Second half, it was about us making sure we won the game and we did that.
"The only disappointment is that Andy Carroll might have tweaked a hamstring, which is hugely disappointing if that's the case."
