---
title: "Slaven Bilic updates on Carroll and Sakho situations"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2017/04/13/slaven-bilic-updates-carroll-sakho-situations/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Michael Oliver"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2017-04-13T10:02:55Z"
modified: "2017-04-13T10:02:55Z"
---

# Slaven Bilic updates on Carroll and Sakho situations

During the win at Swansea, West Ham were dealt a crushing injury blow in the first half when top scorer Michail Antonio suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury he had been struggling with and had to come off, an injury which has since ruled him out for the rest of the season.

The expectation was that Andy Carroll would come on to replace Antonio and lead the line, or possibly even Diafra Sakho for only his second appearance since November.

Slaven Bilic saw differently and decided to give Jonathan Calleri the best part of 60 minutes to make his mark on the game and to his credit, he gave a determined performance, probably his best for the club to date.

![Alex Livesey/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/04/626114962.jpg)

But why were Carroll and Sakho not picked ahead of the Argentine like one would expect? [Bilic says they simply didn’t have the legs](https://twitter.com/WestHamUtd/status/852452279366168576).

> With Andy, he could play for 15-20 minutes against Swansea, but this Saturday is completely different. It’s the same with Diafra.

Carroll started the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal last week but was brought off at the hour mark and replaced by Sakho who had only just returned from a long-term back injury.

Bilic later confirmed that Carroll felt a niggle in his groin which had been plaguing him for a number of weeks and was substituted as a precaution.

Both players failed to see any action during the win at Swansea three days later and have another 10 days of rest and training under their belts with no setbacks and should be able to play some part at Sunderland.

![Christopher Lee/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/04/666170848.jpg)

After his performance at Swansea, however, [Bilic seems keen on handing Calleri some more game time](https://twitter.com/WestHamUtd/status/852449534693314560) to see what he can do and Sakho appears to be the one who’ll have to sit on the bench for the time being.

> It’s a big blow with Antonio \[missing the rest of the season\] because he has been good in every game. We have options up front with Andy Carroll and Jonathan Calleri. We’re likely going to need both Andy and Jonathan on Saturday and they’ll share the minutes on the pitch.

West Ham know that a win at Sunderland will virtually secure their place in the Premier League for next season and with a couple tricky fixtures left in the run-in, getting points on the board is paramount.