Sam Allardyce calls on Carlton Cole to fill void

West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has challenged Carlton Cole to step up and fill the void left by Andy Carroll's absence.

Carroll is currently sidelined with a hamstring strain, and the Hammers boss wants Cole to recapture his goalscoring form to compensate.

"He is an obvious replacement and we would like Carlton to do how he finished off last season," said Allardyce.

"He scored a hatful of goals for us and helped us get back into this lucrative Premier League so we would like him to step in and start scoring the goals he did towards the back-end of last season.

"We hope he can hit the goalscoring trail when he gets the opportunity on Saturday."

Carroll picked up his injury during his West Ham debut against Fulham. The striker is said to have responded well to treatment, but will not be rushed back.