Englishman has still to play a match though so far this season.
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West Ham United have confirmed that the foot injury suffered by club-record signing Andy Carroll earlier this week is not as bad as first thought, although the key front man is still expected to be out of action for some time, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
The England international suffered the new problem to his heel on his very first day back in training on Monday following a long injury layoff stretching back to the end of last season, when Carroll also injured the same part of his foot.
However, West Ham head coach Sam Allardyce has now confirmed that Carroll’s latest problem is a plantar fascia injury, which luckily is different from his previous knock, although worryingly for the Hammers, the club’s medical staff are unable at present to put a time frame on when the 24-year-old may be able to return to action.
“It’s the same type of injury but in a different area. It is not an Achilles injury, as has been suggested but instead it involves the band of tissue which runs under the foot,” Allardyce told the club’s official website whufc.com.
“According to the specialist the chance of a recurrence of that type of injury is about four per cent but unfortunately for Andy he was one of the unlucky ones.
“We had been very cautious, very patient with him along the way and it’s sad this has happened for him as well as us.
“He doesn’t need an operation but we need to give the foot time to re-heal, continue the rehab and get him back in training again.”
West Ham splashed out £15m in order to sign the giant attacker from Liverpool in June on a six-year contract after Carroll had spent the previous campaign out on loan at Upton Park, during which time the Englishman proved himself to be a huge favourite with the fans of the East London club, scoring seven goals in 24 matches.