Sam Allardyce is pressing for the introduction of a two-week winter break for the Barclays Premier League to minimise the disruption caused by the African Cup of Nations. Four Newcastle United players are likely to participate in the tournament next month - two of them scored in last weekend’s crucial 2-1 victory over Birmingham City - and few clubs will be unaffected.

The biennial competition, which is to be held in Ghana in January and February, has been in existence since 1957, but the influx of African players into Britain is a relatively new phenomenon. Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Obafemi Martins, Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Eboué and Yakubu Ayegbeni are among about 40 players who could be absent.

The demand for a fortnight’s hiatus after Christmas is not new, but Allardyce, the Newcastle manager, believes that the growing impact of the Cup of Nations has strengthened the argument. “Losing players in January is going to be a big problem for me and everyone else in the Premier League,” he said. Manchester United are a rare exception and are alone among the “big four” clubs in having no exposure at the tournament.

“In the early days [at Bolton Wanderers] it was a problem I always had and people just said that I was moaning about it and shouldn’t buy them. But the fact is that they were the cheapest around with quality. Now a huge amount of African players have been brought into the league, so the conflict lies with Fifa, who will always promote international tournaments because that’s where their bread and butter is.

“It causes a big problem for the Premier League now and I can’t see a resolution to it because they’re not going to play it in the middle of the summer, like the other tournaments. It would be all right if we had a two-week break in January.”

The competition starts on January 20 and lasts until February 10, but Nigeria are invoking the two-week rule, which allows them to call-up players 14 days earlier. A break would also address the issue of player burnout, which Sven-Göran Eriksson regularly cited as a cause of England’s difficulties during his time as head coach.

Allardyce said: “We’ve got to play eight games in that period and you can’t tell me that’s good for a player. We should give everyone a break. The African players would only miss a couple of games, we could get on with transfer stuff and players could recharge their batteries and you’d get a much more productive division. I understand about problems with the fixture list, but we’re one of the few countries who don’t do it.”

Allardyce is set to lose the services of Martins, Abdoulaye Faye, Habib Beye and Gérémi, but despite his desire “to bring somebody in to help out the situation”, the club’s new owners are eager to avoid short-term solutions or panic measures.“If I made any signings in January, they’d be young guys who I could see staying for a very long time, not immediate first-team regulars,” Chris Mort, the chairman, said. “If I was going to sign anyone, it would be with a much longer-term view than January or February.”

Allardyce can be comforted, however, by the likelihood of a number of senior players returning to full fitness by then. Faye, Shola Ameobi, Damien Duff and Claudio Caçapa are scheduled to feature in a training-ground match this week, while Michael Owen should be available for a busy festive period. The striker hopes to be considered for the home match against Derby County on December 23.

“We are expecting him back with the rest of the first-team squad nearer the end of the week,” Allardyce said of Owen, who injured a thigh muscle during England’s friendly win over Austria last month. “And while Saturday will probably come too early for him, he should certainly be back for the game with Derby.”