Carroll: West Ham squad must stick together

West Ham striker Andy Carroll has called on his teammates to stick together as the Hammers try to pull themselves out of their toughest period under manager Slaven Bilić.

The 27-year-old hitman was making his first appearance since August following a knee injury, and his goal was the one bright spark in West Ham’s 5-1 humbling at home by Arsenal.

It was yet another setback for the east London outfit since their move to the London Stadium, and West Ham now sit just one point clear of the relegation zone.

But Carroll is adamant everyone at the club is behind boss Bilić.

“We just need to keep working hard in training and there is a great bunch of lads in the team,” he said.

“Everyone has stood by the manager and he is a great manager. We are in this as a team together and all the lads are disappointed with the result and the way things are going.

“I am very confident that we are going to pull ourselves out of this.

“We have just got to stay positive and it shows what a good team Arsenal are and the work that we need to do. It has been a tough run for the lads over the last few weeks and we just need to pull out of it.

“We went one goal behind and thought we could have something from the game at that point but we conceded another goal and then kind of crumbled.

“It was good to get another goal and be back out on the pitch, but at the moment all the lads just need to focus on the next game and hopefully get a win.”