West Ham United midfielder Manuel Pellegrini has compared Jack Wilshere to Italy great Andrea Pirlo.

Ex-Hammers boss Sam Allardyce recently claimed that Wilshere and Mark Noble couldn't operate together in midfield. But Pellegrini disagrees.

"That is the opinion of Sam Allardyce. I know him and I respect him and everyone has his opinion," said Pellegrini.

"One opinion is that you can play one good player with the other one and the other is that they can play 4-4-2.

"If you need fast players they cannot do it. If you need good technical players that they don't lose any balls, they can play together.

"In football there are a lot of things you can do. Remember Juventus, around four or five years ago, played with one holding midfielder. It was Andrea Pirlo.

"And Pirlo is the same as Jack. He has the same characteristics as Jack. I think that every good player can play with others."