STRUGGLING UPFRONT

England manager Roy Hodgson is certainly struggling for options upfront due to several injury problems for his strikers, while the fit strikers have also been on poor run of form.

This could certainly derail the hopes of England qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. They are already several points behind Montenegro in their group, and they need to win the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches September in order to stand any chance of qualifying for the World Cup. The top teams from group qualifies directly for the World Cup, while the second place team has to go through a play-off.

England striker Andy Carroll recently sealed a £ 15 million switch to West Ham United after signing a contract worth around £ 100,000 per week. The striker may have scored only a few goals for West Ham in the loan spell last season, but he was extremely crucial to the club comfortably finishing without any relegation troubles last season. West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has said that Andy Carroll is the answer to the striker problems currently faced by Hodgson. England will be facing friendly matches against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil before taking part in the World Cup qualifying matches.

Carroll was a £ 35 million signing for Liverpool only a few seasons ago.

“Roy will come and watch Andy and he will create the headlines for West Ham. It is difficult to ignore Andy scoring and creating goals when England are so short. You can’t look at England and see them going to the World Cup without him. If he is playing and scoring goals, he could be first choice come the start of the World Cup. We have acquired a player who was recently the most expensive British player," said Allardyce after confirming the arrival of Carroll on a permanent deal.