I was intrigued to read Sam Allardyce's comments after West Ham Uniteds goalless draw with Aston Villa at the weekend.

It was another game where the Hammers failed to score, however, it was also another clean sheet for Jussi Jaaskelainen and his back four.

Allardyce says that his West Ham side are not far away from being a ‘three-point club’ and his side only need to add goals before they turn their recent good performances into victories.

I have to admit, it’s alarming at the small amount of goals we have scored this season, and no doubt this was due to the lack of activity around the forward line in the summer transfer window.

However, I think Allardyce might have a point.

He’s certainly worked wonders with our defensive displays this season and with six clean sheets already, it’s a good basis for the rest of our season.

If Allardyce is right, and we can add some goals to those clean sheets, a top-half finish is definitely on the cards.

My concerns are that I cannot see where the goals will come from.

Kevin Nolan is on a dry spell, the likes of Jarvis and Downing are the guys we want creating the chances, and Diame and Noble are not exactly known for their contributions to the goal-scoring tally.

Ravel Morrison has scored but can the senior team rely on a 20-year-old who has just broken into the team?

With Mladen Petric and Carlton Cole still not featuring too much so far and Modibo Maiga out of sorts, it comes back to how reliant the club are going to be on Andy Carroll.

It’s no secret that we’ve missed the England international and even when he is ready to return, it’s going to take a few weeks to get up to match fitness.

Time will tell if Allardyce's comments are worth listening too, in the mean time, let’s pray for a speedy recovery for Carroll, and hope he hits the goal-scoring trail as soon as possible.