England omission won't affect Carroll says Hughton

Newcastle boss Chris Hughton is backing Andy Carroll to bounce back from his England omission.

The 21-year-old striker was heavily tipped to be included in Fabio Capello's squad for next week's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

However, it was Bolton's Kevin Davies who got the nod when the Italian finally made his choice and with Carroll having been left out of the Under-21s, he returned to training on Tyneside today.

Hughton told the Journal: "I don't think Andy will have been affected by the fact he wasn't selected by England.

"There was a lot of speculation in the media and I'm sure he was aware of that, but I don't think he is upset.

"He knows he is still a young player and he is still learning. He won't worry about it. He will just get on with it.

"He has had a very good start to the season, but he is still developing.

"I left him out of the starting line-up at Manchester City because he had been struggling with a virus and he was a little below par, but that is normal.

"He is going to have ups and downs, that is natural at this stage of his career.

"He isn't going to be at his best all the time because he is a young player, and that happens."

Gateshead-born Carroll enjoyed a blistering start to life back in the Barclays Premier League when, having impressed as a lone striker in a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United, he scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa and then struck again the following weekend at Wolves.

However, he is without a goal in his last four games and was used only as a substitute in the 2-1 defeat at City on Sunday.