- Andy Carroll eager to return to the starting XI against former club Liverpool
- West Ham United face the Reds at Anfield on Sunday afternoon at 4.30pm
- Centre forward spent 18 months on Merseyside between 2011-12
Andy Carroll has plenty of reasons for wanting to impress on his latest return to Liverpool on Sunday.
West Ham United’s No9 became the most-expensive English player ever when he signed for the Reds from Newcastle United in January 2011. He spent 18 rollercoaster months at Anfield, climaxing in a goal in an FA Cup final defeat by Chelsea at Wembley.
The feeling persisted that Carroll was never given a real chance in a Liverpool shirt, despite his undoubted ability, and he reminded them of what they were missing by scoring in West Ham’s 2-0 win at the Boleyn Ground in January this year.
Nearly twelve months on and the Hammers desperately need the 27-year-old to fire them to a win which will take them back out of the Premier League relegation zone.
“It’s a massive game,” he began. “They’re a great team playing in a massive stadium with good fans, so it’s going to be tough for us.
“It would be nice to go there and get the win and, for me, to get a win against one of my old clubs would be even better.
“We just need to go up there, concentrate and get the result. Obviously they are a tough team to beat, especially at Anfield, so it’s going to be even harder.”
It would be nice to go there and get the win and, for me, to get a win against one of my old clubs would be even better
Andy Carroll
Carroll returned from a three-and-a-half month injury lay-off with a goal against Arsenal last weekend, when he played for around 20 minutes as a substitute.
Slaven Bilic has refused to say whether the England man will start against his former club, but the No9 feels ready to contribute, whatever role he is given.
“The aim is to get more minutes on the pitch on Sunday,” he confirmed. “I’ve been training hard and I’m fit so hopefully I’ll get longer on the pitch this weekend than I did against Arsenal last Saturday.
“I would like to think I could make a difference to any team. We’ve obviously been lacking goals so I would like to get back in the team and get those goals.”
Having beaten Liverpool three times last season – twice in the Premier League and once in an unforgettable FA Cup replay – Carroll says there is no reason why the Hammers cannot do so again.
“We have got the quality to beat the top teams and Liverpool are obviously a top team, so we can beat them,” he said.
“We have to stick together and we’ve worked hard in training this week. All the lads know what we need to do and hopefully we can put it together for the weekend.”