West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has insisted that he will not hold Andy Carroll back during the club's busy festive schedule.
Carroll has been beset by injuries throughout his career and has only recently returned from a three-month spell on the sidelines courtesy of a knee problem.
The striker featured as a sub against Arsenal and Liverpool before starting against Burnley and Hull City but, despite the workload, Bilic insists that he is still feeling fit to play again.
"We are monitoring him but why should I hold him back? In training we can tell him to stay in and do some extra work, massages, maybe because before it was always holding him back, 'Don't do that, don't do that,' maybe that was main reason he was getting injured. You are more likely to get injured if you don't train," he told reporters.
"Of course you have to be cautious because of his history but if he is feeling good, let's build on that. Why are we being negative? He is ready. You know with Andy, you know what you are getting. During the game, in training, you always know what you are going to get. You're going to get everything. Commitment, quality, impact, he's that kind of guy and player. What you don't know is the next day, is he going to feel something?
"Nobody expected Andy to play two full games, against Burnley he played 80 minutes, against Hull he played 90 minutes, it wasn't the plan. I spoke to him at half time during those games and he didn't want to come off against Burnley so we didn't expect it. I spoke to him today and he feels good. Not good in terms of motivation because that is always there but he feels good in his body and I'm delighted."
Carroll has not started three consecutive Premier League games since May.
Barney Corkhill
