Allardyce in no rush over new contract talks

The 60-year-old has enjoyed an impressive season so far at Upton Park, with West Ham occupying fourth spot having taken 28 points from 16 matches.

However, Allardyce's deal is set to expire at the end of the campaign and there have been some reports that the club may look elsewhere for a boss.

Allardyce insists that there is nothing out of the ordinary, though, and the former Newcastle United manager is happy to bide his time for talks to begin.

"We will sit down when we're ready and comfortable and discuss the situation, so it hasn't changed from the start of this season until now," he said.

"We're comfortable in that position like I was the last time we were in this position, which was after we got promoted to the Premier League.

"I think we talked about that contract about the end of April, or May almost, even though we finished 10th that year.

"For me, I'm comfortable with that and don't have any problems.

"I only spoke to [co-chairman] David Sullivan over some other matters in the last couple of days. Nothing to do with me or my contract."

West Ham's fixture with Leicester City this weekend starts a run of four matches in 12 days.

Allardyce has been delighted with the form of his side thus far, but will allow no let-up during a busy end to the year.

"We've got to keep the shape of our season as high as it is at the moment," he added. 

"We've achieved great things in our first 16 games and are looking forward to the Christmas games, even if is a strenuous period.

"There will be fatigue, there will be injuries so we will have to rotate the team. It's just play, recover, play, recover."