West Ham's Andy Carroll takes the positives after League Cup exit

“We’re a great team at the minute and the lads are playing well,” he said. “They’ve got some great results apart from last night and as an attacking force they’ve been fantastic. It’s good to be part of it. I’ve been looking forward since the start of the season to be back and now I am. That’s what I’ve wanted and what I’ve worked hard for.”

The Hammers were beaten by Andy King’s header four minutes from the end of extra-time. It was harsh on goalkeeper Adrian, who had produced a number of excellent saves. Leicester had taken the lead after just six minites through Joe Dodoo but Mauro Zarate levelled from 25 yards midway through the first half.

Carroll added: “When it went to 1-1, I think all the lads felt we’d go on to win, especially with the way we’ve been playing. They got at us after half-time and we were on the back foot for a long while. We did try to counter-attack and had a couple of chances but they scored a great header at the end of extra-time.”

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was unhappy his side were not awarded a penalty after Mark Noble was brought down in the penalty area in extra-time by Danny Simpson.

To add to their pain, Noble was booked for diving in the incident. “We should have had a penalty for the foul on Mark Noble because he had no reason whatsoever to go down,” said Bilic. “For me it was a clear penalty and that was a crucial moment in the game.

“It [the result] is a big disappointment, because we approached this game with the aim to go through. We knew it was going to be tough but when you concede with three minutes to go in extra time of course you are disappointed.”