Slaven Bilic urges West Ham fans to give Andy Carroll time

Striking return: Carroll's start in the Cup against Leicester was his first in seven months
Getty
Giuseppe Muro24 September 2015

Slaven Bilic today asked West Ham fans to be patient with Andy Carroll following his return from injury.

Carroll made his first start in seven months against Leicester in the Capital One Cup defeat at King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

The striker has been plagued by injury since his £15million move from Liverpool in 2013 but Bilic says Carroll is working hard to get back to full fitness.

“Andy can’t be doing more in training,” said the West Ham manager. “He is working so hard. But after seven months, these things take time.”

West Ham are third in the Premier League and will be looking to build on their impressive win at Manchester City when they face Norwich at Upton Park on Saturday.

Bilic said: “It is still too early to be thinking about where we might finish in the table. It is a good start but it is still only September.

“Norwich are a good side. They are hard to break down, they work as a unit. They have a bit of everything. We will not break them down with just simple passing. We will have to be creative and incisive.

“We want to build on our away form, we are going to do everything we can to try to win our fourth consecutive league game. This is the Premier League and we know how hard Saturday will be but we also know what we have to do to win.”

Bilic is not surprised with the impact Dimitri Payet has made at West Ham.

The France international joined the Hammers from Marseille in a £10.7m deal in the summer and is already a fans’ favourite after hitting three goals in six Premier League games.

“He is special,” said Bilic. “This is why we signed him.”

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