The Hammers travel to Coca-Cola League One side Hartlepool in the FA Cup tomorrow, but the fourth-round tie has been overshadowed by continuing transfer speculation.

The Barclays Premier League club have already seen unsettled striker Craig Bellamy make a high-profile move to Manchester City.

What Zola will do with the reported £14million brought in by the deal has caused much debate.

Brescia's Savio Nsereko and Panathinaikos' South Africa defender Bryce Moon have both been linked with the Irons.

So too have Cardiff winger Joe Ledley and Crystal Palace midfielder Ben Watson, who Middlesbrough are also keen to sign. Fiorentina's Pablo Daniel Osvaldo was also said to be interesting West Ham until he joined Bologna.

Meanwhile, Matthew Etherington left for Stoke earlier this month, French winger Julien Faubert has expressed a desire to find regular first-team football elsewhere, with Lyon the most likely destination, and Luis Boa Morte's move to Hull broke down over personal terms.

Zola can understand the frustrations of fringe players desperate for game time.

"In football, things change so quickly. It is a dynamic system," said the Hammers boss.

"Jack Collison was about to leave this team and go on loan to a team in a lower division, then we played Manchester United away and he played well. Since then, he has not left the club and is now playing on a regular basis in the team.

"I do not have a problem with Julien. Right now he is not playing, but every time he plays he does well and maybe in a month's time he might be playing regularly.

"The important thing is that when the moment comes for you, you have to be ready to take it."

Zola, though, will not try to keep anyone at Upton Park if their mind is set on a move elsewhere.

"As far as I am concerned, people are happy to stay, but if someone wants to go and play, we will consider it," he said.

"To be successful you have to enjoy it and be committed and that is more important than having quality players who maybe do not want to stay."

The Hammers reached the FA Cup final in 2006 and Zola - who won the trophy twice as a player with Chelsea - intends to do all he can to secure a trip to Wembley this season.

"Depending on the position you have in the league, some mangers might think that the FA Cup is not interesting," he said.

"As far as I am concerned, the FA Cup is a wonderful competition and I would like to honour it all the time, so I will always try to play my best team."

Zola added: "Hartlepool have some very interesting players, some quick players and play quite differently from being a League One side.

"We respect them and it will be a hard game - but for us the cup is an important achievement so we want to get through this round."