Slaven Bilic has vowed to use the international break to knock West Ham into shape for winter.
The Hammers have made an encouraging start to the campaign, collecting 21 points from their opening 12 matches.
That leaves them sixth in the table, three points adrift of a top-four spot in the Premier League.
But Bilic knows the months that follow will test his side to the limit and the manager is leaving nothing to chance.
He said: “We are going to work on and examine every area, tactics, physical side, medical things, everything to make sure we are as good as we can be.
“We have shown that in parts so far but not consistently enough.
“We are going to win games and we are going to lose games. But if we keep our focus we will be a very hard team to beat.
“We have high expectations and we will keep that level high. This is the last international break for a long time; we face a difficult time with the winter coming.
“I told them to be proud so far and I expect them to come back hungry. We have a lot of games to go until the end of the season, we want to maintain this level but also improve. We know that we can still improve.”
West Ham drew 1-1 with Everton at the weekend but Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia suffered injuries.
Bilic told the club’s website: “The international break has definitely come at a good time. We are in a good position.”
