West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has admitted that it is a "blow" to once again lose Andy Carroll to injury.

The 27-year-old has been beset by injuries throughout his West Ham career so far, but looked to finally be on the road to recovery when he scored the clinching goal in his side's 2-0 victory over Liverpool recently.

However, he lasted just 12 minutes before limping off with a hamstring injury during Tuesday's clash with Bournemouth, and Bilic is hoping that the striker is not facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

"It is a really bad situation for us. After the Liverpool win I said that he is back, he looked sharp, he looked strong and he was covering the whole pitch and terrorising the defence," Bilic told reporters.

"So, it is a blow but he has been working really hard. Maybe or hopefully it is not that long. Maybe it is going to be a couple of weeks but we need him.

"He is disappointed because he knows he is back but if we have to choose between a knee and hamstring injury it is better to have a hamstring injury."

West Ham rose up to fifth in the Premier League table by coming from behind to beat Bournemouth 3-1 at Dean Court.