Bilic - The team is still strong

Slaven Bilic says the team he will put out against Liverpool on Sunday will still be a strong one, despite the addition of Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate to the Hammers' injury list.

Noble and Kouyate have gone under the surgeon's knife for abdominal and wrist injuries respectively, bringing their seasons to a slightly premature close.

With Andy Carroll set to miss out against his former Club too, Bilic will have to turn to his squad - but as he pointed out, every player has had plenty of game time this season due to the injuries he has had to deal with all campaign.

The manager explained: "The team news is from the team that played against Spurs, we are without Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate, but the good thing is that the players who will start against Liverpool have all played a lot of games this season because of their form, or because of injuries. We will still put out a really good team.

"Andy Carroll isn't going to play. He is still feeling his hip or groin - it's in that area and since the last three or four weeks its been like a 50/50 chance whether he'll play, but unfortunately he can't.

"He tried to do it yesterday and the day before yesterday - it's nothing major, but it is frustrating not to have him because you know what he means to us."

The good thing is that the players who will start against Liverpool have all played a lot of games this season because of their form, or because of injuries. We will still put out a really good team.

Slaven Bilic

The manager hailed Noble and Kouyate for their willingness to play through the pain barrier as they postponed surgery for the good of the team over the last couple of months.

He added: "It is a hernia thing for Mark. He has had it for the last couple of months - he didn't want to talk about it because he is a captain, a great captain and he wanted to help the Club and the team.

"Of course it affected him because he felt the pain, but he played through it and now, it has become a bit worse.

"It is not that we're safe now and we don't want him to play - I really wanted him to play against Liverpool and he wanted it, but the surgeon said it should be done as soon as possible, so there was really no way he could play another game this season.

"He was one of our key players against Spurs, and it meant a lot to the team to have the skipper playing in that game, so it was a good decision by him [to keep his injury quiet].

"It is the same for Cheik - his wrist problem has been there since the Africa Cup of Nations, but it became worse over time and he has played through a lot of pain.

"He was supposed to do the operation earlier, but because we needed him we made a plan for him to play as much as possible."