Carroll "Improving Well" After Hamstring Injury

Andy Carroll's West Ham debut went about as well as it possibly could have for player and club, with the on-loan striker involved in each of the three goals the home side score en route to an easy win over Fulham. He didn't get one of his own, but he looked both comfortable and dangerous in a style that played to his strengths. For Liverpool supporters just 24 hours removed from an unhappy ending to the transfer window, it wasn't exactly the easiest performance to witness, but it was at least nice to see him doing well.

What wasn't nice for anyone to see was the forward go down just shy of the seventy minute mark, with a hamstring injury later discovered that proved to be enough to keep him out of the England squad for the Euro qualifiers. The early prognosis was close to two months on the sidelines, which had to be discouraging for a player that had the promise of more regular playing time after leaving a setting in which that couldn't be guaranteed. A return to Liverpool for rehab was ruled out, but what seemed certain was that Andy Carroll would have a fairly long layoff.

So it was surprising to see a number of outlets reporting that he was in line for a more immediate return--the Mail and the Metro were among the more prominent, so...yeah--and while Sam Allardyce didn't rule out an appearance in the near future, it appears they're not going to take any chances with his recovery:

"We haven't put a specific date for his return. We think it will be the maximum of six weeks. He is improving well so we will continue day-by-day and take it from there. We won't put any pressure on him to return by a certain date, but if there is a possibility we can get him back quicker than expected we will try to make that happen."

His Liverpool career may well be over, but for now there's still a (probably very slim) chance he ends up on Merseyside, so hopefully he makes a full recovery and gets back into the mix as soon as possible.