Swansea City manager Garry Monk is relying on his defenders to keep Andy Carroll quiet when the Welsh side travel to West Ham United this weekend.
Both sides have enjoyed good starts to the current Premier League campaign, but Monk knows that Carroll will have to be handled properly if the Swans want to take anything away from the game.
"It is always difficult to handle him," Monk told reporters. "Any team would find it hard at times. We have to find ways to deal with him at times when he has the ball first played into him, when he is effective. We then have to pick up the second, third or fourth phase of play and that will dictate how we do against him.
"We need to stop crosses into him and how we can affect the supply into him, because if the supply is good then it can be impossible to stop him. I have marked him and it is tough if the service is good.
"You talk to your defenders and midfielders, particularly the defenders dealing with a man like that. But Ash and Kyle have faced him and know how we are trying to deal with it. We have to keep him quiet so we can have an impact on the game ourselves."
Carroll was sent off in this fixture last season after tangling with Swansea's Chico Flores.
Phil Archbold
