Andy Carroll to return "in a few weeks"

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has admitted that Andy Carroll is still "a few weeks" away from making his return from a knee problem.

The Englishman was initially expected to miss just four weeks after suffering the injury in August, but has still not returned to first-team training for the Hammers as the month of November approaches.

Bilic has admitted that the striker's recovery has been 'longer and slower than expected', but is hopeful that Carroll will be available towards the end of the year.

"Andy Carroll picked up the injury in Romania and I didn't notice he got injured. Originally we thought it would be four to six weeks," Bilic told reporters. "Now it is longer than that and it is slower than we expected. He is progressing but it is not the speed we wanted. He is working hard. He is improving and hopefully he will be back in a few weeks."

Carroll, 27, netted nine times in 32 appearances for West Ham last term, which represented his best scoring season since arriving at the London club.