West Ham striker Andy Carroll denies suffering setback in recovery from knee injury

West Ham United striker Andy Carroll has taken to social media to deny claims that he has suffered another injury setback. The 27-year-old has been no stranger to the treatment room throughout his career to date and sustained another knee problem after coming off the bench during the second half of last month's Europa League play-off round first-leg draw against Liga I champions Astra Giurgiu in Romania.

Such a problem was initially expected to keep the towering forward out for between four to six weeks, although recent reports suggested that West Ham had been forced to put his comeback on hold amid fears that he would remain sidelined until the end of October.

That would have come as quite a significant blow for manager Slaven Bilic, who is without the likes of Aaron Cresswell, Diafra Sakho and record signing Andre Ayew as he attempts to arrest an alarming run of form that has seen his side, who failed to reach the group stages of Europe's secondary club competition for the second year in succession, lose four of their first five Premier League matches, shipping 13 goals in the process.

However, Carroll is adamant that there has been no deviation from his original rehabilitation plan. Looking to reassure a concerned supporter on Twitter, he said: "My recovery is going great this was a 6-8 week injury so everything is going to plan!! #NoSetback."

Carroll has been blighted by fitness woes since joining West Ham permanently for £15m ($19.4m) in June 2013 following a successful loan deal. Having already missed separate chunks of time with hamstring, knee and heel issues, he sat out four months of the 2013-14 season with a foot injury.

His start to the next season was delayed by torn ankle ligaments and he later underwent surgery on a knee injury that ruled him out from February-September 2015.

Last term Carroll, who missed three weeks of action at the turn of the year due to hamstring trouble, scored nine goals in 32 appearances for the Hammers to help mark cult hero Bilic's first year in charge with an impressive seventh-place finish. A brilliant hat-trick netted in a thrilling six-goal draw with Arsenal in April led some to vigorously press the player's claims for a place in the England squad for Euro 2016, although Roy Hodgson eventually opted against it.

Beleaguered West Ham return to action later tonight (21 September) with an EFL Cup third-round tie against League Two side Accrington Stanley at London Stadium. They host Southampton in the top flight on Sunday.