West Ham manager Slaven Bilic waiting on Andy Carroll injury diagnosis
Thursday 14 January 2016 12:46, UK
West Ham will discover the full extent of Andy Carroll's hamstring injury on Thursday, manager Slaven Bilic has confirmed.
Carroll has been plagued by injuries since joining West Ham in August 2012 and is set for another spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring problem during the 3-1 Premier League victory at Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Bilic is hoping he will not be without the towering forward for too long but concedes Carroll could be on the sidelines for up to six weeks.
"Andy Carroll has a scan today at 10.30am, so we will wait for that. It's his hamstring and it's one of them, four to six [weeks]. But we are going to wait for the scan," Bilic said.
"It was not like 'boom', but it was not a little one. So, it is something in between. Hopefully it will be only three-and-a-half weeks.
"Of course we will be cautious, and it is a blow for us because he was looking really sharp. He'll be back soon and he won't lose much.
"If everything goes well he will be back very soon so there is no reason to be negative."
Carroll has played just 69 times for West Ham during his three-and-a-half years with the club and his absence leaves Bilic thin on the ground for recognised forwards.
Diafra Sakho is yet to return from a thigh injury suffered in November, leaving Nikica Jelavic as his only fit striker ahead of Saturday's clash with Newcastle United.
However, Bilic did confirm Victor Moses, Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate were in contention for the match at St James' Park.
West Ham are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games, a run which has lifted them to fifth place, just one point behind Tottenham in the fourth and final Champions League spot.
If they avoid defeat against Newcastle, West Ham will secure a new club record of nine games without defeat in the Premier League and Bilic admits his side can raise the bar for themselves if they gain a positive result.
Bilic added: "The players like it and want to continue. The Premier League motivates you enough and we are approaching February and it is a very tight season. We are playing well and want to keep looking up the table
"We are thinking only about the game on Saturday and if we get a result then the bar is going to stay where it is or even go higher."
