Carroll happy in limbo until end of season

On-loan West Ham forward Andy Carroll says that that his future with Liverpool will not be resolved until the end of the season.

The England international joined Liverpool in January 2011 for a fee of 35 million pounds from Newcastle but, after a tough 18 months, he moved to the Hammers on a temporary basis.

Initially he struggled in London with injuries and form but in recent weeks has become an integral part of Sam Allardyce’s team.

“I’ve loved every minute the lads have been great. There are still a few games left (but) I’ve got to wait and see what happens,” the 24-year-old told Sky Sports.

Allardyce added: “The implications of Financial Fair Play will take its toll, and that might be a case where it takes its toll.

“I’m not absolutely certain yet (whether we can afford Carroll) because our budgets haven’t been set yet, but it can be a deciding factor in terms of where we go and what we want to bring in next year.

“It makes our lives a little bit more difficult, but I can understand everybody wants a bit more financial stability. I can understand that but it doesn’t make my life any easier.”

Both were talking after the 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United on Wednesday night, and Carroll relished the physical battle against Rio Ferdinand and, in particular, Nemanja Vidic.

“It was a tough game,” he said. “We had our chances but we worked our hardest to the point that we deserved.

“It was a great tough battle I enjoyed getting stuck in giving and getting a few elbows.”

Carroll almost got himself into trouble with the referee after a minor scuffle with Wayne Rooney but the former Newcastle man dismissed that as ‘banter’ before claiming that a heavy collision with David de Gea moments later was not intentional.

“It was a bit of friendly banter with me and Wazza,” he said. “I just went for the ball that’s all it was. I was running straight in to get the ball and couldn’t stop when I was flying through the air.”

The Hammers took the lead twice in the match but Carroll admitted that their poor ball retention played into United’s hands.

“They came out and passed it well. We were sloppy giving it away for their goal,” he added.