West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that injury-plagued striker Andy Carroll could return to action within the next two or three weeks.
The Hammers have pencilled in the Premier League home game against Aston Villa on November 8 as a possible comeback date for the former Liverpool man.
"It'll be another two to three weeks, if he has no niggles or problems, before we talk about playing him in the team at any level," Sky Sports News quotes Allardyce as saying.
"We'll try to get him through three or four behind-closed-doors games and if that goes all right then we would hope to have him back.
"It's been a long, hard road again for Andy and one he's been too familiar with recently, sadly. Hopefully he'll have a major impact when he comes back again."
Caroll has been out with a persistent knee injury since the Hammers' defeat to Manchester City in May.