Carroll dilemma for Allardyce

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was deciding today whether Andy Carroll is fit enough to start against Arsenal.

Carroll returned from a hamstring problem in West Ham’s win at QPR on Monday but he is short of match fitness and Allardyce is nervous about exposing him to further injury risk.

West Ham expect Winston Reid to be available after he was knocked out at QPR but Allardyce is less certain about left-back Joey O’Brien (hamstring), while Jack Collison (knee) and Alou Diarra (thigh) are long-term absentees.

Provisional squad: Jaaskelainen, Demel, O’Brien, Reid, Collins, Noble, Diame, Taylor, Maiga, Nolan, Cole, Jarvis, Vaz Te, Benayoun, McCartney, Diarra, Tomkins, Henderson, O’Neil, Carroll.