Sam Allardyce would have no qualms if West Ham snuck into the Europa League through the Fair Play League, even though it would lead to an early start next season.
The Hammers have dropped out of contention for securing a place in Europe through their league position after a run of one win in eight Premier League games has left them ninth in the table.
But West Ham do top the Premier League fair-play table and, with England currently occupying third in the UEFA Respect and Fair Play rankings, they could yet end up qualifying for the early rounds of the Europa League.
The top three nations are handed a Europa League place, so Allardyce will not only have to control his own players' conduct in the final eight games, starting at Leicester on Saturday, but also hope the rest of the Premier League teams are on their best behaviour.
"I haven't told them that," Allardyce replied when asked if he would have to ask his players to tread lightly. "If we have done what we have done all season and we have been as good as we have been I shouldn't really need to tell them any more.
"For us as a team to be where we are at this stage of the season shows that we have played the game in the right way and the right manner and achieved something that is out there to promote the game in the right fashion."
Allardyce's future remains in doubt with his current deal expiring at the end of the season but, having led Bolton into Europe in the past, the 60-year-old knows what it could mean to West Ham.
"For me, I have been there and qualified for Europe and we all enjoyed the journey when we had it. A club like West Ham would enjoy that journey," he said.
"If you are going to compete in Europe it is about your growth on and off the field and with the new stadium just around the corner, that helps with the financial growth and hopefully that helps with the spending on the team. That can make the strength in depth much better and able to compete in that European block."
A spot in the first qualifying round of the Europa League would mean a return to competitive fixtures in early July, one thing that does worry Allardyce.
He said: "The difficulty is how early it starts if you get in by the fair play, it is July and with us not finishing the season until May 24, it would bring an awful lot of pressure on when we bring the players back.
"It is something that you would deal with. The journey may not be great financially, but it is not the financial journey we look for as footballers and managers - it is the experience.
"It would be tough in the beginning and there are some consequences that occur that we would have to deal with along the way.
"We are fully aware of those consequences that maybe, when you hit the middle part of the season at Christmas, there may be some difficulties in fatigues and injuries. That would be one of the burdens you would have to deal with."
Playing in Europe has also been seen as a distraction from the bread and butter of league football, but Allardyce feels the extra recruitment available to teams in continental competition would allow the Hammers to remain competitive.
"We all know that travelling away in Europe makes the next Premier League game difficult to win. But it is progression for me if you have got your players into European football," he added.
"It was never easy but there were always players of much higher quality interested in coming to Bolton, there is no doubt about that.
"You all know about the quality of players we managed to recruit at that time and that became second nature in the end because we got into Europe."
