The Hammers forward will miss at least the next month after suffering yet another injury setback.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has admitted, as quoted by Sky Sports, that he is beginning to get frustrated that he and the club cannot count on Andy Carroll remaining fit.
Carroll has been notorious in his struggles to maintain fitness in recent years; the striker has made just 38 Premier League starts – a season’s worth of matches – in over three years as a Hammer.
Last season he made more appearances, 32 in all competitions, than he had managed in any campaign since 2011-12, but even then he did not make his first appearance until mid-September, and suffered one or two niggling problems which saw him miss the odd fixture here and there.
The 27-year-old has made four appearances so far this season, three in the Europa League and a start in the Premier League defeat to Chelsea, but picked up an injury in the draw with Astra Giurgiu and is expected to miss at least a month.
It is yet another setback for the striker and West Ham, and Bilic admitted that he is frustrated that he is never able to rely on planning around the England man being fit.
The Croatian boss said, via Sky Sports: “I will sign now the contract if his injury is four weeks or six weeks and, after that, good until the end of the season. I will take it.
“Andy is Andy. He’s dedicated now to training, to everything. It’s a big blow for us, a big question mark also, and big frustration with these things that are happening to him.
“The worst situation is when you plan, then you can’t count on him. All the time.”
Carroll’s injury leaves West Ham struggling up front, as out-of-favour Enner Valencia had to start in the 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.
£20 million summer signing Andre Ayew has been ruled out until around Christmas right at the start of his Hammers career, and there are just nine days of the transfer window remaining for the club to sign another forward.
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