West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that he is considering giving rests to a number of his key players when the fixtures begin to pile up in the winter.

The Hammers have surprised many critics with their impressive start to the season, but Allardyce is wary of overusing the in-form members of his squad who moved to the Premier League during the summer transfer window.

"The games come so thick and fast you are pushing to get them back when they are not really ready but you have to," the Hammers boss told reporters.

"The squad still has to be fitter than now going into that period. New players - particularly Enner Valencia, [Diafra] Sakho, [Cheikhou] Kouyate, [Mauro] Zarate won't have hit that cauldron of mental and physical output during that particular period. All of those normally have a break.

"If they fatigue and they need a rest, the rest of the squad has to be fit for us to give them that rest."

West Ham, who are currently fourth in the table, meet Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.