West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has stressed the importance of not letting the season capitulate after the Hammers saw their FA Cup dream ended, losing 4-0 at West Bromwich Albion.

The Hammers were undone by a brace from the in-form Brown Ideye, as well as further efforts from James Morrison and Saido Berahino.

A miserable afternoon at The Hawthorns was complete when French midfielder Morgan Amalfitano was dismissed with 20 minutes remaining and just ten minutes after being introduced from the substitute’s bench.

Speaking to the club website, Allardyce said: "We had the FA Cup as one of our dreams, but that has gone now and we cannot let the season die now.

"It was a huge disappointment but I can see why. We didn't really get to our level because we didn't have the energy to get to that level, so it's the old saying that this was a game too far for us.

"The players have had to cope a lot of games in a short space of time but unfortunately they couldn't cope it against a West Brom side who played very, very well.”

Allardyce continued: "If we'd have been on our top form then I think we'd have given them a much better game but we couldn't because we couldn't get our energy levels right because of what we've had to do over the last few days, it has unfortunately taken its toll."

And the Hammers boss pointed to having to play with nine men in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw at Southampton and the physical exertion of drawing with Manchester United on Saturday.

He reasoned: "The last thing we wanted to do at Southampton was to play with nine men, but because of a poor refereeing decision that has now been corrected, we had to do that and it hasn't helped us.

"The extra effort the lads put in to get that result and to try to beat Manchester United was outstanding and gave us two top-class performances. On Saturday, because we had to play three times in a short space of time with the same players because of injuries, we couldn't quite manage it.

"We've flogged the players and you can't keep flogging them because they couldn't cope with the physical need to play against West Brom."

The Hammers return to Premier League action next Sunday with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur.