West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce says Andy Carroll is five or six games away from full fitness after returning in Saturday’s goalless draw with Aston Villa.

The 25-year-old England international was a 92nd minute substitute as the Hammers failed to break down the Villans at Upton Parkv - the first time Allardyce’s side have drawn a blank in front of goal since the opening-day defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

Forward Diafra Sakho made his return from injury too, but was unable to break the Premier League record for consecutive goals after scoring in each of his first six top-flight starts for the club.

Carroll saw two late headers saved by Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan as the hosts failed to find a way past the American international, despite carving out a plethora of chances at Upton Park.

Discussing Carroll’s return to the first-team fold, Allardyce told the club’s website: "He's still five or six games away from being fully fit. It's pre-season for him really, so we'll gradually increase his pitch time and see how he copes and how quickly he recovers.

"We need to be careful that we don't rush him back too quickly because we don't want to risk him getting injured again. Thankfully our squad is working well at the moment and that gives me the freedom to slowly work him back into the side. We'll take each week as it comes and go by a game by game basis."

He continued: "It's great to see him back out there. He loves playing football so to be out for such a long period was very frustrating for him. He's worked incredibly hard to get back fit and he's back ahead of schedule, which is excellent.

"It also goes to show his desire and hunger to play football. I think he demonstrated that in the few minutes he was on. We also have Cole (Carlton Cole) fit and looking good. (Enner) Valencia and (Diafra) Sakho are looking better and better as a partnership the more they play together."

Reflecting on a stalemate against Paul Lambert’s side, Allardyce commented: "It was frustrating. We've not seen that super-clinical finishing side of our game today. I think that left us hugely frustrated and when we did get a proper finish on target the goalkeeper was on top form.

"There's nothing more we could have done today to try and win a game of football but ultimately the clinical finishing has deserted us. It's our second clean sheet of the season so we only needed the one goal, but we just couldn't find it."