Andy Carroll is ready to rescue West Ham's season and manager Slaven Bilic after returning from injury

• e-mail

West Ham striker Andy Carroll is ready to ride to Slaven Bilic's rescue after missing five months with a groin injury.

The talismanic Carroll has trained well during the recent international break and may start Monday's must-win game against Huddersfield with The Hammers looking for their first points of the season.

There could also be a surprise place on the bench for Diafra Sakho who was refused a move to French club Rennes on deadline day.

Andy Carroll, pictured training ahead of Monday's match, is ready to rescue West Ham 

Bilic will be glad to get back on the pitch after the turmoil of the transfer window deadline day.

Approaches for William Carvalho and Andre Gomes proved unsuccessful and on Friday the Croatian manager was forced to deny claims from co-owner David Sullivan that he'd turned down the chance to sign Renato Sanches and Grzegorz Krychowiak on loan.

The availability of 28-year-old Carroll for West Ham's first home game of the season is a huge boost with Manuel Lanzini and Andre Ayew injured and record signing Marko Arnautovic suspended.

The striker is available for West Ham's first home game of the new Premier League season 

The powerful Geordie centre-forward is considered unplayable in the air and Bilic has the options of partnering him with Javier Hernandez or holding him back on the bench.

Injuries have blighted Carroll since his £15million move from Liverpool in 2013 but his record of 23 goals in 52 Premier League starts is still impressive. He last played against Sunderland in April.

Sakho has also trained with the first-team squad and reacted well following the initial disappointment of having his exit blocked by Sullivan.

West Ham have suffered a disastrous start to the season, conceding 10 goals in three away defeats at Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle while their London Stadium was out of commission because of the World Athletic Championships.

Slaven Bilic has had a bad start to the new season along with a frustrating transfer window 

Bilic has also had to face added pressure from public comments by co-owners Sullivan and David Gold who pointedly tweeted before West Ham's 3-0 defeat last weekend: 'Slaven is taking a very strong squad to Newcastle. good luck Slaven. dg.'

With leaking goals a major problem, West Ham will also be glad to see the returns of defender Winston Reid and energetic midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate after injury.

Another poor result could lead to fans protesting West Ham's net spend of £17million in the window, less than half of opponents Huddersfield.