Andy Carroll’s charge for match fitness is being held up by lack of opposition for a behind-closed doors friendly tomorrow or Saturday!

ClaretandHugh understands that so far boss Sam Allardyce has drawn a blank in finding suitable opponents but confidence remained high this morning that something will be sorted by the weekend.

Carroll’s stop/start season has been difficult  for the team this term but a decent warm-up would put him somewhere near peak for the next match at Stoke.

A training ground source told us: “It’s proving hard to find suitable opponents. We’ve drawn blanks so far but I’m sure it will be sorted very soon. Opponents could emerge at any time – hopefully even later today!”