Bilic plays down Sturridge links

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic says "all the clubs" want to sign out-of-favour Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge this January.

The Hammers, who have scored just 15 goals in 14 Premier League matches, are in the market for a new striker this January, but Bilic played down the persistent rumours linking the club with a move for the England striker, who is currently sidelined with a calf injury.

"He’s one of the biggest talents, he’s a great player. The talent is there, the touch, the finishing, everything is great. The only thing that’s stopped him being regular for club and country are the injuries," Bilic said ahead of West Ham's trip to Anfield on Sunday.

"He’s just a player that has been linked with us, basically, and we’ve been linked with almost every player.

"We’re always there in contention. Most of the time it’s absolutely not true, 95% of the time. But you’re asking me about Sturridge and I have no problem about that. All the clubs are thinking about him because he is that kind of player.

"I don’t know his work rate, I don’t know his dedication to his job or whatever but unfortunately for England and for Liverpool and especially for him he’s injured. That’s his problem."

Andy Carroll returned to action in Saturday's 5-1 defeat to Arsenal at the London Stadium following a serious knee injury, but Bilic says the former Liverpool striker may not start against his former club, but could be held back for the back-to-back home games against Burnley and Hull City next week.

"It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot in the past few days," Bilic said.

"The last game he played before the Arsenal game was the game in Romania [against Astra Giurgiu in a Europa League qualifier] and that was at the beginning of the season. It is a long break.

"‘We have three games [this week] and we need him in all three of them but we can’t be that greedy. I would call it naive to expect - or hope - that he would last three games over 90 minutes, in the space of one week although he feels good and fit.

"But we’re going to use him, almost definitely, in all three of them, but is he going to start on Sunday? I don’t know.."

Top scorer Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell returned to training on Friday, and could feature at Anfield, while Cheikhou Kouyate should be available for the midweek meeting with Burnley.

Photo (Getty Images/Olly Scarff)

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