West Ham boss gives striker his backing

Andy Carroll will once again miss a West Ham game through injury when the Irons take on Livepool on Sunday, but manager Slaven Bilic insists he will continue to support the striker.

The injury prone 28-year-old has been a dominant presence in West Ham’s front line when he has played this season, but for large periods of the campaign has faced lengthy spells on the sidelines.

When asked for team news on the Liverpool game, Bilic revealed: “Andy ain’t gonna play, it’s either his hip or groin – it’s in that area.

“These last few weeks he’s been 50/50 but no he can’t play. He tried to train yesterday and the day before but it didn’t work, basically again, nothing major but it is very frustrating.”

Despite that frustration, Bilic still backs the former England international.

“Andy is the kind of player that has such a big impact on our game,” he said. “I will never give up on Andy, especially now.

“I don’t know what it was like before and what were the reasons for his absence, but this has nothing to do with lifestyle or not being committed enough. He is working really hard and wants it, it’s just bad luck.”

Captain Mark Noble and midfielder Chiekhou Kouyate will both also miss Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool.

It came to light this week that Noble had been playing in recent months despite a recurring back injury, and Bilic revealed the full extent of his club captain’s pain.

“It’s a hernia thing,” said the Croatian. “He’s had it for the last couple of months but he didn’t want to talk about it because he‘s our captain – a great captain – and he didn’t want to hurt the club or the team.

“Of course it affected him because he could feel that pain but he played through that pain. Now it’s become a bit worse.”

But Bilic was quick to point out the Hammers’ mathematical safety from relegation did not play any part in the decision to finally treat Noble.

He said: “It’s not because we’re safe now and he didn’t want to play.

“I really wanted him to play at least one more game, against Liverpool, and he really wanted it, but the surgeon said we should operate as soon as possible so there was really no way he could play another game for us.”

Kouyate, an indomitable presence in the West Ham midfield in recent weeks, will be sidelined due to a recurring wrist problem.

Bilic said: “Again that wrist problem has been with him since the African Cup of Nations, and again it’s become worse.

“He played through a lot of pain by using injections and all that, but he was supposed to have the surgery earlier.

“Because we needed him and all that we made a plan for him to play as much as possible.”