Allardyce: Duo need little coaching

Sam Allardyce has admitted he leaves Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll to their own devices as they attempt to fire West Ham up the Barclays Premier League table.

The Hammers climbed into sixth place with Sunday's 1-0 victory at Newcastle, a club at which the three men have enjoyed differing fortunes in the recent past, with Nolan's fifth goal of the campaign securing the points.

Allardyce said: "Kevin's relationship with Andy is such a good one that I don't need to do a lot of coaching with those two. Kevin will instinctively play off Andy and vice-versa. While Andy is struggling to get a goal - and we would like him to get one - Kevin is the man who is scoring the goals because that combination is causing teams lots of problems."

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