England boss Roy Hodgson has played down fitness concerns surrounding West Ham striker Andy Carroll.
The powerful striker has been named in England's squad for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland, despite having only just returned from a hamstring injury.
Hodgson claims the player to be somewhere close to full fitness by the San Marino encounter at Wembley on October 12.
"Andy played 23 minutes including injury-time on Monday and I am expecting him to play more minutes on Saturday against Arsenal, either from the start or coming on," said Hodgson.
"He has another week after that so I don't think there is any reason for me to question his fitness."
This will not only displease West Ham fans (who won't want to put any risk towards the fitness of the new star striker), but also manager Sam Allardyce who stated that he was going to have a discussion with the England manager and request that he not be placed in the squad.
Could this be in any way, shape or form, the fault of striker Ricardo Vaz Te, who was in danger of incurring Big Sam's wrath after urging Hodgson to pick Carroll for the squad.
Vaz Te after the recent 2-1 win against QPR said: “He’s great to have back. He’s such a handful. He is an England striker."
"With Andy’s strength, England can do anything. Every time you play a ball to him, you know he is going to control it. He lets the team breathe, he lets you push on. He buys you time."
“Normally, you get big players who are strong but not so good with their feet. Andy is an all rounder. He is not fast - but not slow either. He showed that at QPR."
"He is a terrific player.”
Andy Carroll himself said: “I was devastated when I got injured, but I’ve worked hard and I’ve been in the gym every day."
“As soon as I stopped feeling the hamstring a week or two ago, I wanted to get back on the pitch, but they wouldn’t let me because they told me it wasn’t right."
“I’ve had to keep working on it and I’ve got it right. I’m absolutely fine.”
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