Allardyce concerned by string of Carroll injuries
- by Staff Writer
- Friday, 20th February 2015
Sam Allardyce admitted this morning that he has concerns over Andy Carroll's long-term future in the game.
West Ham's 26-year-old striker is likely to miss the rest of the season and part of next year's pre-season having recently undergone surgery to resolve a ligament problem.And that, combined with the numerous other medical complaints the Newcastle-born goalscorer has sustained during his time in east London, have led Allardyce to question whether Carroll will ever be able to complete a full season.
"It has to be a concern, there's no doubt about that," admitted Big Sam this morning. "He's been picking up injuries for three or four years.
"But the specialists say there's no long-term problem there, so we would hope that he'll recover from this - and hopefully that'll be the case for a period of time."
Allardyce then likened the target man to Manchester United's Dutch international Robin Van Persie, another player who suffered a string of injuries during his younger years.
"When he played for Arsenal, people were saying that Van Persie never seems to finish a season," he added. "Then all of a sudden, at maybe 27, he was free of all those injuries and started playing games on a more regular basis and became an even better player than he was before.
"So we have to hope that'll be the case for Andy."
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