Sam Allardyce believes West Ham may have to curb their attacking intent in order to get anything out of this weekend's trip to Old Trafford.

Sam Allardyce vs Manchester United: the record so far

2013/13

2013/14

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Having watched his team take four points from their last two outings at Hull and at home to Liverpool last weekend, morale is high in the Hammers camp as they prepare for what is traditionally one of the season's toughest tests.However with West Ham in good form and Manchester United having shipped five at Leicester last weekend, there couldn't be a better time to play a team who once dominated domestic football but now find themselves struggling to emulate their previous achievements.Despite that defeat, the Reds' forward line remains one of the most expensively-assembled in world football.Whilst their defensive woes have been well-documented the likes of Rooney, van Persie, Falcao and Di Maria remain a constant threat - something that Allardyce, who is still seeking his first win over Man U as a West Ham manager acknowledged during his pre-match press conference this morning."The quality of United's team may drive us back and if we are to contain their abilities on the ball we have to have a compact unit," he surmised. "When we have the ball we have to break into the spaces they are going to leave."They will attack us because Manchester United fans demand that they do. There will be spells when we have to do some deep defending, I'm sure. But if we're as good as we were against Liverpool then we can cause them one or two problems."As always we'll have to be as clinical in our finishing as we were last week, that is the key. We can't afford to miss the chances we get."We need to make sure we limit their chances and use the possession we do have when we have it. We have to be as good at taking the ball off them as we were against Liverpool last week. We're going to have to dampen the outstanding talent that they do have and the exploit the defensive weaknesses."We are going into the game with confidence, and as underdogs. Hopefully we can go out, continue our good performances and get a result."To read Big Sam's pre-Man Utd presser in full, visit whufc.com 28 Nov 2012 (Premier League): Man Utd 1-0 West Ham Utd5 Jan 2013 (FA Cup): West Ham Utd 2-2 Man Utd (Collins 2)16 Jan 2013 (FA Cup replay): Man Utd 1-0 West Ham Utd17 Apr 2013: West Ham Utd 2-2 Man Utd (Vaz Te, Diame)2 Dec 2013 (Premier League): Man Utd 3-1 West Ham Utd (C Cole)22 Mar 2013 (Premier League): West Ham Utd 0-2 Man UtdPlayed 6; Won 0; Drawn 2; Lost 4; For 5 Against 11.