West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan concedes they could lose Sam Allardyce over their contract delays.

Sullivan wants to stick to his policy of not negotiating with a manager until the summer.

"I must say if come April we are where we are now (in the Premier League table) which is extremely unlikely but is possible we'd probably sit down a month early and say 'look Sam, do you want to stay or do you want to go?'. Sam may decide he wants to go out a winner," Sullivan explained to the Sunday Telegraph.

"He may decide, after four years, it's a very stressful job, he may decide he wants £10million-a-year which we can't afford. All I will say is we don't have a contract in a draw with another manager. We will sit down with Sam and see if it makes sense for both parties. We are very open and honest. We have always said that to Sam and he's very happy with it.

"Sam is very confident in his own ability. He's confident he could get another job so he's always happy to negotiate at the end of the season or late in the season which has always been our strategy."