Daily WHUFC News - 17th July 2013

West Ham United register 2-1 win over Colchester United
Last Updated: July 16, 2013 10:05pm
SSN

Joe Cole and James Collins netted at the start of each half as West Ham
scored a 2-1 friendly win over Colchester at the Weston Homes Community
Stadium.
The Hammers were gifted an early lead when Mark Cousins' attempted clearance
ricocheted off Cole and into the net, and they doubled their lead after the
restart when Collins headed home Cole's corner. Substitute Jabo Ibehre
headed in a stoppage-time consolation for Colchester, but it proved the last
action of the match. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce fielded a strong field for
the trip up the A12, with summer signing Adrian in goal and veteran Romania
defender Razvan Rat also in the starting line-up. And the visitors got off
to a dream start on seven minutes when goalkeeper Cousins' clearance bounced
back into his own net off Cole. Colchester responded well to that early
setback, with Clinton Morrison forcing a fine save from Adrian and Gavin
Massey curling a low shot just wide. Cousins denied teenager Elliott Lee
just before half-time but he was beaten again on 50 minutes by defender
Collins' powerful header. Colchester gave their fans something to cheer
about in injury time when Ibehre headed Tosin Olufemi's cross past Adrian,
but it was too little, too late. West Ham will now travel to Germany for a
training camp which includes games against Mainz and Hamburg.

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Andy Carroll unlikely to make West Ham's Premier League opener, says Sam
Allardyce
Last Updated: July 17, 2013 12:05am
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that Andy Carroll is unlikely to
be fit for the start of the Premier League season. The England striker, who
completed a permanent £15m move from Liverpool to the Hammers last month, is
still recovering from a heel injury and has so far missed the club's
pre-season campaign which continued with a 2-1 win at Colchester on Tuesday.
There were suggestions that Carroll could be fit for the Premier League
opener against Cardiff on August 17, but that appears unlikely according to
Allardyce, who is still hoping to have the 24-year-old back before the
international break at the start of September. Speaking after the match at
Colchester, Allardyce said: "Andy is still recovering. He has got four weeks
or more to go before he starts full training. "His rehab is going pretty
well at the moment and he will be joining us in Germany, and hopefully he
will be available, as will George McCarthy, as quickly as possible. "I hope
it will be before (September) for both of them, but being fit and being
ready to play are two different things - they may be fit from the injury,
but they are unlikely to be capable of playing straight away. "If we are
going to put our lads through six weeks of preparation and then Andy gets
fit with two days to go, you would not expect us to play him, would you?"

The win at Colchester gave West Ham a fourth successive pre-season friendly
success and Allardyce has been encouraged by their form. He added: "It was a
good workout for us, because Colchester are a couple of weeks ahead of where
we are with their season starting earlier, so you would expect we would get
a physical game. "Our only disappointment was conceding a goal in the last
minute. "We are looking very good, even at this early stage, so I just hope
we can keep it up in Germany."

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Colchester Utd 1 West Ham 2
Published: 7 hrs ago
The Sun

SAM ALLARDYCE says Andy Carroll still faces another month out. West Ham
striker Carroll, 24, has been nursing a heel injury since May. And boss Big
Sam said: "Andy's still recovering. "He has four weeks or more to go before
he starts full training. "But being fit and being ready to play are two
different things."
The Hammers continued their pre-season with a victory at Colchester. U's
keeper Mark Cousins saw his early clearance hit Joe Cole and go in. James
Collins doubled the lead before Jabo Ibehre grabbed a consolation.

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