West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has said that he is optimistic that star striker Andy Carroll will be fit for Monday's clash with London rivals Chelsea.

Should be enough to have him back

Carroll has been a prominent figure in Bilic's side this season between injuries, with six goals in the last 16 appearances for the Hammers.

However he has suffered in the last few weeks with issues, with a groin injury keeping him out of the recent draws with West Bromwich Albion and Watford.

Carroll returned to full training with the side on Wednesday, and ahead of the clash on Monday, Bilic stated his confidence of Carroll making an appearance.

“Andy trained individually for the last few days," Bilic confirmed to his pre-match press conference. "And did everything with those medical guys, and then he joined us yesterday."

“We still have three training days before the game," the coach told the press. "But it looks good, especially for him."

He added: "Altogether it will be a good week of training for him. That should be enough for him to be fit for the game."

"I’m very optimistic about if he is fit or not but it looks good," Bilic said. "It means a lot to have him back."

Not looking to sell him

Carroll's goalscoring heroics during the festive period certainly didn't go unnoticed, with the tabloids reporting this week that Carroll was subject to a move away in the winter window.

It is reported that Carroll was attracting attention from the Chinese Super League, whose transfer window closed in the week.

When asked about the rumours, Bilic dismissed them and stated that he rates the striker very highly.

"Andy knows how much we and I rate him,” the Croatian continued. “He is one of our best players and we want to keep him."

"As far as I know the Chinese clubs sent representatives to watch our game," the 48-year-old declared. "Apparently they were watching other players but fell in love with Andy."

Bilic continued: “It’s certainly not the Club that has asked an agent to try and sell him. We haven’t been bombed with offers from China, so it hasn’t affected me or Andy."

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.