David Moyes believes West Ham United are in good shape to tackle their busy schedule as they prepare to take on Brentford at London Stadium on Sunday.
The Hammers welcome the Bees to east London just three days after facing Rapid Vienna in the UEFA Europa League - and that coming after a three week spell which has seen them take on a Carabao Cup tie alongside their Premier League and European commitments.
But Moyes has been able to utilise his squad effectively throughout the month, making changes at Dinamo Zagreb, at Manchester United and against Rapid Vienna - and winning all three games.
With the schedule remaining packed all the way up to Christmas, Moyes says that bodes well for the months ahead.
We're not daunted at all by the quick turnaround between matches.
I'm really looking forward to it and the performances have been good - you talk about the defeat [to Manchester United] after a Thursday game but we missed a penalty kick in the 95th minute to at least get a draw and we were playing one of the best teams in the league. So I think there were mitigating circumstances.
We want European football, I wish it was the Champions League because it would mean we played Wednesday/Saturday but if we get Thursday/Sunday I am taking that all day long.
I think winning any game gives you a great feeling of confidence and we are trying to keep a really good run going after that defeat a few weeks ago but overall the players have done so well, and we're loving being in the European competition.
We had 50,000 or more in the stadium last night and we won in Zagreb which is huge and we have a lot of players who have never been in European football before. I would like to be in Europe after Christmas time. That's my goal with this competition at the moment.
[But] I can't take my eye off the ball with the Premier League. I'm doing my best to juggle the squad and give everybody minutes and to try and win the games by using as many players as I possibly can.
Saïd Benrahma comes up against his old side this weekend and I've been delighted with him this season.
He has improved for us. Since he came to us he took a bit of time to adapt and I say this quite often about the boys who come from the Championships and even some from abroad, coming into the Premier League is not an easy league to step into and hit the ground running.
It took Saïd a little bit of time to understand his role and how to play at this level but we've been really pleased with him and he has been a big positive for us from the start of the season.
Brentford have been impressive this year and nobody should be surprised by that.
I have been impressed but not surprised because they have been a top team in the Championship and they have that momentum.
They have put together a really strong squad, they have a good identity in how they play and are well coached, they are a well run football club. So I don't think anybody should be really surprised by that. We have to put a halt to that and make sure we get three points on Sunday.
Ivan Toney is someone who has looked very hungry to prove himself in the Premier League. I think if you've got that hunger and determination, it's a big ingredient, you know sometimes having the ability is terrific, but I think having those characteristics gives you a real chance to succeed. Ivan Toney has done really really well since he's come into the Premier League. But again, we shouldn't be surprised because he was successful and did a really good job in the Championship. It will be a tough game for us and a tough game for the centre-halves but it will be a tough game for Brentford as well.
I'm delighted that Pablo Fornals has been called up by Spain again as he deserves it.
He's a really key player for us and he has been a bit unsung when last year he was probably under the radar quite a bit . We are thrilled he is in the Spain squad because, let's be fair it's we've got some really good players from England internationals, now we have Spanish ones, boys in the Czech Republic squad, so we're beginning to build up a team [of internationals], when we first came we had very few international players and now we're beginning to get many, many more.
But I agree Pablo has done a great job and hopefully keeps that standard up.
