Matthew Taylor: 'Andy Carroll needs time'

Matthew Taylor has said that people need to remember that Andy Carroll has only just returned to first-team football.

The striker missed a good chance in West Ham United's 3-1 defeat to his former club Newcastle United on Saturday.

However, Taylor insists that Carroll will improve as he plays more games, adding that his return is a "huge lift".

"Having Andy back is a huge lift. He's a huge player for us and a huge presence in the squad. You can see that on the pitch as well," Sky Sports News quotes Taylor as saying.

"He'll be disappointed that he missed that chance, but it wasn't an easy one. He hasn't played football for a long time and we need to remember that. The next one will come in and hopefully he'll put it away."

After the match, Sam Allardyce blamed missed chances for the defeat.