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West Ham manager Slaven Bilic hopes Andy Carroll back to face Chelsea

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has said he hopes striker Andy Carroll will be fit to face Chelsea a week on Monday.

Carroll missed Saturday's 1-1 draw at Watford with a groin problem, but Bilic expects him back in full training by Wednesday.

"The guys from the medical department have told me he's going to start training Tuesday or Wednesday," he said.

"He ran on Friday and Saturday morning with no negative reaction, so hopefully. Me and my medical department are fighting. They say Wednesday, I say Tuesday.

"Then hopefully four or five days of training, that is always enough for Andy to shine in the next game. So hopefully he is going to be able to play against Chelsea."

Carroll, who has scored four goals in his last four matches, was missed as West Ham squandered a number of chances to cancel out Troy Deeney's early penalty at Vicarage Road.

But Andre Ayew, on his first appearance since returning from the African Nations Cup with Ghana, grabbed the equaliser eight minutes after coming on as a 65th-minute substitute.

Michail Antonio -- later sent off for a second yellow card -- somehow hit both posts before the ball rebounded out to Ayew.

"It was a fair result -- they had the first half and we had the second," Ayew said.

"It was a tough game. We just need to keep working hard and hopefully we'll get the results we want."

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