Carroll out of England squad

New West Ham signing Andy Carroll has been ruled out of the England squad with a hamstring injury.

Carroll suffered the injury in the Hammers’ 3-0 home win over Fulham on Saturday, being forced to leave the pitch with 20 minutes left.

But in his time on the field, the striker, who joined the London club on loan from Liverpool before the transfer deadline, had impressed new manager Sam Allardyce, who feared the worst after the match.

“He’s not good I’m afraid. It looks like a hamstring (for Andy Carroll) which is obviously the most disappointing thing for today,” Allardyce told reporters.

“Also, we had Carlton Cole ready to come on, if it had been another two minutes Andy (Carroll) would have been off anyway based on the fact that he would have been tiring and because of where his fitness is at.

“He hasn’t played as many games as he would have wanted since he came back from holiday and the European Championships.

“So we were ready to bring him off and unfortunately on that last jump he got hit by (Brede) Hangeland and twisted his body and it’s pulled his hamstring.

“I think almost definitely he’ll be out of the England squad. We just have to pray that it’s not too severe.”

Carroll had been named in the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova in Chisinau on Friday and against Ukraine at Wembley on September 11.