Emmanuel Pogatetz has insisted that his West Ham United teammates will benefit from having a free weekend.

The Hammers are without a match on either Saturday or Sunday because they are no longer in this season's FA Cup.

Having spent the week training in Dubai, Austrian Pogatetz has claimed that a break at this time of the campaign will help players to recover from any knocks that they may be carrying.

"When I played in Germany for the last two years, we got a winter break and I think this is a similar break now," he told the club's official website. "The lads will enjoy the break and the warm weather.

"They can recover the bruises and knocks or whatever they have got and then make a fresh start next Monday when we're back. I think the group will really benefit from it."

Pogatetz joined West Ham from Wolfsburg last month.