Premier League chief Richard Scudamore admits they're exploring the prospect of a winter break.

England boss Roy Hodgson recently joined Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester City's Roberto Mancini in calling for a two-week halt to the season to benefit the national side and afford Premier League stars respite from a gruelling fixture list.

"We have tried but unless somebody is prepared to give something up, it is pretty hard," Scudamore told the Telegraph.

"We offered to start the season a week early, which is difficult in terms of summer holidays, but we don't really want to be starting in July.

"We are not inclined to reduce the number of clubs in the Premier League - if you were running a theatre and had 380 nights that you wanted to sell, why would you throw 60 or 70 of those nights away?

"Similarly, the Football League don't want to lose the League Cup. It's a huge source of funding for the Football League and it is a big solidarity play between the leagues."