Allardyce ‘optimistic’ Tomkins will stay at West Ham

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is optimistic that talented defender James Tomkins will agree a new contract to stay at the club.

Tomkins has been outstanding for the east London side this season and has been strongly linked with a £3m move to QPR.

West Ham co-owner David Gold revealed last week that the club will turn down any approach for the former England Under-21 defender and are determined to keep their best young players at Upton Park.

Allardyce is confident they can reach an agreement with Tomkins to extend his current deal and hopes he can play a major role for West Ham over the next few years.

Allardyce said: "James is not one of those that is running short of a contract term. It still has about two and a half years to run.

“We have been negotiating with him and will continue that in January to get a conclusion on extending that. I am optimistic.

"We are working with a very talented but small squad of players. We can ill afford to lose any players at this stage of the season to any of the clubs in the Premier League.”