West Ham news: Slaven Bilic sends warning to Andy Carroll over fitness

West Ham’s injury plagued striker has two years left on his contract but if he is to earn another this is the season his manager believes he has to shrug off the injury worries and have a consistent campaign on the pitch.

Perhaps for the first time since he joined the club, Carroll, now 28, has serious competition up front at the London Stadium – with Javier Hernandez, a fit again Diafro Sakho, Marko Arnautovic and even Michail Antonio all vying for places in West Ham’s attack.

Carroll has started the last two league games for the Hammers and is fit again after the toe and thigh problems which forced him to miss the start of the season – just the latest in a series of knocks that have blighted him.

He started only 15 league games last season and in his five years at the club, he has started only 76.

Bilic believes the Hammers, who have recovered from their dismal start with a three game unbeaten run going into today’s crunch London derby with bitter rivals Tottenham at the Olympic Stadium, need a fit and firing Carroll if they are to prosper.

The West Ham manager said: “Andy has got two years left, and this is to be fair his season to be fit, to stay fit.

“If we are talking about his contract, the question mark about him is his fitness, how much he is available during the season.

“Andy has competition now. I think he likes that. Last year Sakho was injured. Now we have Chicharito because we didn’t want to stay just with Andy. And it is good to have competition.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he is fit now. I don’t think he was getting injured because he was sloppy and lazy and he thought ‘I have no competition, I will play anyway’.

“I didn’t feel that or smell that in one single moment during those two years.

“It wasn’t his problem, it was that he was getting injured. But he is not one of those that slows down because he feels he is the king.

“Some players like competition, even the goalkeepers who like a No 2 pushing them so both of them progress together. But a lot of players have to be secure to produce good games.

“We are doing things a little bit different with Andy now – we are not pushing him as soon as he is back. Two seasons ago or even last season it was always the case, after a couple of sessions rolling up the sleeves and 100 mph straight away.

“This year, he didn’t do a pre-season. It was four weeks before he played, which definitely helps and we didn’t play him in the League Cup.

“He doesn’t just come in at ten o’ clock now, change and go out. He is there very early. All those small things really help him.”

West Ham last year effectively killed off Tottenham title’s hopes with a 1-0 win at the Olympic Stadium in May and the previous season beat them 1-0 at Upton Park.

But Bilic said: “We have played good against them. It is a special kind of a game for us. We don’t hide it, it’s a big derby, big game.

“I remember playing against them at Upton Park when we won 1-0 when Michail Antonio scored from a corner.

“It was a top atmosphere at a top ground. Last season at the Olympic Stadium we were saying there was no way we were going to get that kind of intimidation. But to be fair it was. I’m sure the atmosphere is going to be good and it is going to lift us.”