West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is pleased to have Andy Carroll back in his West Ham squad to face Arsenal this weekend.

Surgery has kept the striker sidelined for three-and-a-half months but he is now ready to return, coming back at a time when West Ham are in need of a win in the Premier League, something they have not managed since October 22.

Bilic said: "He's a player that offers something special, he is one of the reasons why we were so prolific last season in front of goal, why we were so versatile, so dangerous, why we scored so many goals and why we finished so high.

"He played a great game against Arsenal where we didn't start well, we were two down and didn't play good.

"It was basically him who brought us back in that game before half-time with two goals, and he went on to score a hat-trick. If you ask me what he's capable of, that's one of the greatest examples.

"You can simply be very dangerous in the box if he's playing there because he occupies basically the whole box.

"From anywhere in the box when you put a cross in, a half-decent one, he makes it a good ball and the defences have to take care of him. No centre-back feels comfortable when he's close to the goal and the ball is in the air."