West Ham manager Slaven Bilic hopes to see Andy Carroll back in an England shirt next month after hitting top form since the turn of the year.
England manager Gareth Southgate was in attendance for West Ham’s 2-2 draw with West Brom on Saturday but Carroll failed to recover from a groin injury to make the matchday squad.
The 28-year-old has thrown himself back into contention for a Three Lions recall after making an impressive start to 2017 and Bilic hopes that culminates in a return to the international scene.
“I want him to get picked for England,” The Daily Telegraph quotes Bilic as saying. “It’s a great thing for him. It would be a great thing for him and a great thing for the club.
“The boost and the confidence that every player gets when he gets a call-up for the national team is much more than the couple of days that he loses, or that he would use to rest. On the scale, the positives are much bigger."
Injuries have disrupted the majority of Carroll’s career and limited him to just nine caps with England.
Many were disappointed he was not included in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad and international recognition for England’s matches against Germany and Lithuania at the end of next month would be the first time he has played for England since October 2012.
Of players to have scored at least five goals in the Premier League this season only five players require fewer minutes per goal than Carroll (1 every 133.2 minutes).
For more stats on Andy Carroll, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
