West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has played down the latest injury fears surrounding striker Andy Carroll.

Carroll was stretchered off the pitch at Anfield on Saturday during his side's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League.

The England international, who missed the start of the season with thigh and hamstring problems respectively, hurt himself after attempting to tackle Emre Can.

However, Allardyce is hopeful that Carroll could be back in action sooner rather than later.

"With Andy Carroll's injury, we'll know more once we've had the scan but it's too early to guess how serious or non-serious it is. We'll know better in the next few days," he told the club's official website.

"Hopefully it's not too serious as we can ill-afford any more injuries at this stage of the season if we want to continue where we are in the league, stay in the top eight and continue in the FA Cup which is only 10 days away."

Carroll has scored five goals in 15 games for West Ham so far this season.