Bilic heaps praise on Hammers striker Carroll after back-to-back wins

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic insists Andy Carroll is the key to the Hammers’ turn in fortunes after the striker scored two goals in their 3-1 defeat of Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The victory saw the Hammers move into the top half of the Premier League table for only the second time this term, after a poor start to the season in which they recorded just six league victories before the New Year.

They have since gone on to seal back-to-back wins, following last weekend’s comfortable toppling of Crystal Palace at the London Stadium, with Jonathan Calleri completing the scoring at the Riverside on Saturday.

And as the East London side continue to turn their season on its head,  Bilic couldn’t be more thrilled to have his number one striker on red hot form.

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Andy Carroll, week in, week out, is brilliant,” he said. “I am always saying this, he is a brilliant player, not just with his goals, but he makes such an impact with his presence.

“The goals are obviously important but it’s so hard to stop him in the box and so for him to score two goals is brilliant.

“I have told you why I’m a big fan of Andy; he does everything. The only problem before was that he wasn’t available to play.

“Hopefully he is going to stay fit. He felt his groin a bit and we didn’t want to risk it because we don’t want to lose him.

“He’s great though, he is one of the leaders and he enjoys that.”

And according to the man himself, confidence is at an all-time high in the Hammers camp.

“The morale in the dressing room is fantastic,” said Carroll. “All the lads are having a laugh and it’s great to be around. Everyone wants to work for the manager and it’s brilliant.

“It was tough at the beginning of the season, but we came out of that and we’re just thinking about each game as it comes.”