David Moyes has given West Ham players two days off following their 5-0 defeat against Fulham.
The Hammers were thumped on a miserable afternoon at Craven Cottage on Sunday and Moyes feels his players need some time off to recharge, both mentally and physically.
West Ham have been dealing with a Thursday-Sunday schedule for much of the season due to their Europa League commitments and fatigue is a major concern for Moyes.
Lucas Paqueta played with an injury on Sunday and the Hammers have also had an illness in the camp which effected several players and forced Edson Alvarez to miss the Fulham game.
Rather than order his squad into training this week and punish them following a drab, mistake-ridden performance at Craven Cottage, Moyes has decided to take a different approach in the hope that it will inspire a more positive reaction.
West Ham are due to return to training on Wednesday, when they will step up preparations for their Europa League clash with Freiburg on Thursday.
That game at the London Stadium is the first of five in just 14 days for the Hammers before the end of the year.
They then host Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday before travelling to Liverpool for their Carabao Cup quarter-final next Wednesday.
"I think the carry over from the game, we used up too much energy in midweek,” Moyes said on Sunday when asked how he explained his side’s drop off from their excellent win at Tottenham last week.
“We weren’t able to get ourselves back. Another Thursday fixture, Fulham had a Wednesday fixture. No excuse for the result but it played a part in it."
Moyes also admitted that he is finding ways of rotating his West Ham squad a challenge.
“I’m struggling to do it with the time,” he said. “We just can’t do it with the scheduling we’ve got.
"Lucas Paqueta’s been carrying a bit of an injury, there’s been illness in the camp that we’ve had to suffer through for the last day or two.”
