West Ham United management insists their Dubai camp is no jolly.

West Ham's head of sports science and sports medicine Andy Rolls insists the trip will not have been used as a holiday.

He said: "We will train over there quite hard - there will be some double sessions and some gym time as well as pitch time. I think we will see the benefits again when we return.

"It has been a long season already and Christmas is always hard and we would been back for six or seven weeks before we played our first Premier League game back in August. The players need a break and a change of scenery."