West Ham United captain Kevin Nolan has said that striker Andy Carroll is nearing his best form, after a couple of injury-hit years.

The Englishman missed the first three months of this season with an ankle injury, but he has scored five goals in 14 appearances since he returned, and Nolan believes that the 26-year-old is starting to prove critics wrong.

He told reporters: "I think now he is getting up to full fitness, everything is coming together for him and I'm delighted because he's had such a tough time with a lot of injuries.

"He never lost his hunger and desire. A lot of people looked in from the outside and started to give him a lot of stick, but I hope they are starting to eat their words now because he is beginning to show everyone what he is all about.

"He's always had it, but everyone seemed to forget it because he wasn't there, doing it on the pitch, and now he is proving them all wrong."

Carroll joined West Ham from Liverpool in 2013, after an initial loan spell.