Andy Carroll wants to shake off his reputation for being injury prone, after making just 84 league starts for West Ham in seven years.
He has denied some of the more extreme incidents said to have sidelined him, but admits to a “daft side.”
“I do have a silly side. I’m still a child at heart. But I’ve grown up massively. I’ve realised my mistakes in the past, and realised what I want to be, and what I am.
“There was one (story), I think last season, that I got injured trying to climb over a balcony drunk on pre-season with West Ham, and I fell off the balcony and got injured. It’s a load of ********.
“I won a game of table tennis, jumped on the table, landed, smashed the table and rolled my ankle and I’m injured. What?
“It’s not my fault. I don’t want to be sitting in the gym by myself doing rehab. I want to be outside doing what I love, playing football and being with the lads.
“I’m working my ******** off to get fit. It’s non-stop.”