SAM Allardyce has warned that Wanderers run the risk of losing key players at knockdown prices, if they do not learn lessons from the Tal Ben Haim affair.

The Israel international is expected to be transferred this month for a fee considerably less than his valuation because Reebok chiefs fear losing him for nothing, when his contract expires at the end of the season.

And, although there is likely to be a more satisfactory conclusion to protracted contract talks with Kevin Davies who is poised to sign a new three-and-a-half year deal, Allardyce believes it is imperative Wanderers avoid similar situations in the future.

"It is very awkward and very delicate," the manager said, perturbed at being distracted by negotiations with two of his top performers during the transfer window.

"We have to learn the lesson from that and be more positive in the earlier stages of the contract, so that we don't run into this problem again.

"We are in the middle of a crucial time of the season when we are having players negotiating contracts. That is not the right time but, unfortunately, it's the only time we've got left to do it."

Although Wanderers say the only approach they have had for Ben Haim has come from West Ham, there has been repeated speculation that Chelsea will try to tempt Wanderers with a cut-price offer before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Generally regarded as the best defender at the Reebok, the versatile 24-year-old would have commanded a fee well in excess of £5 million under normal circumstances, but Chelsea, despite their big-spending reputation see no reason why they shoul pay full price for a player they could sign for nothing in six months. Some sources have suggested they will offer no more than £1.5m - nowhere near enough, in the current market, to sign a suitable replacement.

Allardyce, who has developed Ben Haim into a top quality Premiership defender since signing him from Maccabi Haifa for £250,000 in August 2004, recruited successfully from the bargain basement in the early Premiership years but admits he will struggle to find a player of a similar standard at an affordable price.

"I prefer the club to do the contract negotiations earlier and not let them go into the last year," the manager told Wanderers TV.

"It's an impossible position that we are put in by the fact that we are tempted to take some money for somebody who is worth an awful lot more.

"The problem is where do we get a replacement and how much will it cost?

"This football club now has to make sure it protects its own players and gets them to stay, rather than thinking we can let them go and bring in other players very cheaply like we've done in the past.

"That's no longer the case. The players are simply not available any more, certainly not on free transfers and small fees.

"When it comes round to replacing your players now, instead of doing 6,8 and 10 like we did in years one, two and three, we are down to one, two or three at the most, because the players are not out there, and not available to bring in any more."