Carroll must stay fit to earn new West Ham deal, says Bilic

London, September 23: Slaven Bilic challenged injury-plagued striker Andy Carroll to stay fit if he is to earn a new deal at West Ham.

Carroll has struggled with injuries throughout his career and the nine-time England international last made at least 20 league starts in 2012-13.

The 28-year-old last struck at least 10 times in the Premier League in 2010-11, but is contracted until mid-2019.

However, Bilic said Carroll needed to prove he could stay healthy if he wanted a long-term future at West Ham.

"Andy has got two years left, and this is to be fair is his season to be fit, to stay fit," the Croatian said.

"If we are talking about his contract, the question mark about him is his fitness, how much he is available during the season."

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Carroll has started West Ham's past two league fixtures and Bilic's men sit 17th in the table ahead of hosting Tottenham on Saturday.

Bilic believes added competition for places – including the arrival of Javier Hernandez – should help Carroll.

"I don't think he was getting injured because he was sloppy and lazy and he thought, 'I have no competition, I will play anyway.' He is not one that slows down because he feels he is the king," Bilic said.

"He's got competition now. He had competition last year on paper but Diafra Sakho was injured.

"Now we have Chicharito because we didn't want to stay just on Andy, knowing what happened in the last couple of seasons. It is good to have competition."

Source: OPTA