Sam Allardyce believes Andy Carroll may be fit to face Southampton tomorrow.
James Tomkins – who broke his nose in that game after an incident with Robin van Persie -is also expected to be in the squad which travels to the south coast.
Allardyce – assessing the injured players – revealed that Carroll could make it although he said it was “’s touch and go” adding: “We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
On Tomkins he explained: “He broke his nose on Sunday but he should be available to play.
“A win against Southampton would be fantastic but we’re taking each game as it comes. If we play like we did on Sunday, we’ll do well.
“We’ve got 14 games left of the season and we want to maintain our level of performances. We’d like to turn our draws into wins.”
The Hammers are likely to still be without James Collins, Winston Reid, Guy Demel, Diego Poyet and Doneil Henry though, leaving Allardyce short at the back again with Sunday’s man of the match Cheikhou Kouyate likely to start in central defence as he did against United.
Bearing in mind how they played earlier in the season when Sakho and Valencia played against them, this might actually be a good game for Carroll to give us a different approach.
Carroll not being fit is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s obvious that the Team play better without him. When Carroll’s in the side BFS lapses back to his old caveman tactics, the passing game goes out of the window and us Punters start muttering again.
It was brilliant on Sunday, the whole team (including Nolan surprisingly!) played well and were unlucky not to take the points. The only thing I would criticise is bringing on Matt Jarvis for Valencia, if it was for an injury fair enough, but he adds very little to the Team, Amalfitano has been far more effective as a substitute.
Why the rush let him sit on the bench and watch and learn to play with Sakho or Valencia,if Tomkins is fit then why change the team ( yes even leave Nolan in there ) players need to learn that you earn your place by giving 100%,
That still leaves a bench of Carroll,Cole,Jarvis,Alfitano,Oxford and the keeper ( can’t spell his name )
That’s good enough if they play well to take all 3 points,
Leave it alone BFS if it’s not busted and your boy gets to play and you bring AC on if we need a goal with 20 mins to go and try all 3 up top ( you might be suprised)
Well, if Carroll plays tomorrow I give up and I make it clear BFS does not understand a s**t! His only concern is to see Carroll on the field for his personal satisfaction independently of the rest. I have nothing to add.