Alan Pardew suggests Arsene Wenger should drop Alexis Sanchez if Chilean is a disruptive influence to the squad

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Alan Pardew believes Arsene Wenger should drop Alexis Sanchez if the Chilean is proving a disruptive influence in the Arsenal dressing room.

Thierry Henry said the split celebration to one of Sanchez's goal at Crystal Palace indicated a divided team with the forward eager to leave the club as he enters the final six months of his contract.

Wenger left Sanchez out of March's game at Liverpool following a training ground bust-up involving the forward and team-mates, and Pardew 'absolutely' advocated similar action again if the current situation was the same.

Alan Pardew believes Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger should drop Alexis Sanchez if he is a disruptive influence in the dressing room

Pardew is preparing to lead his West Bromwich Albion side into action against Arsenal

'As much as I love Thierry Henry I'm not sure that was what happened against Palace,' Pardew said. 'But there are situations where players force the hand of the group.

'Virgil Van Dijk has done that at Southampton. He wasn't playing, not picked every week – a great player like him. You have to question the attitude of him and look at all the other players.

'If we were a team in the room and we had one player doing that I would expect the group not to accept that. I would expect a manager to respond to the group.

'They either react to it in an understanding way, or they don't, and sometimes it gets a bit more volatile than that. Sometimes those moments are from a group rather than a manager themselves.'

Wenger will surpass Sir Alex Ferguson's total of 810 Premier League matches as a manager against West Brom and Pardew paid tribute.

Sanchez takes aim as Arsenal train ahead of Sunday's visit to The Hawthorns 

Sanchez turns away from Alex Iwobi as the Gunners trained on Saturday at London Colney

'We moan as managers in the mid-section or at the bottom about certain scenarios where we don't get results and odds are stacked against us because of the finances of the top clubs,' said Pardew.

'But top clubs have to win and that's a different pressure and he's had to deal with that for 20 years. I think he's dealt with it with dignity through some very harsh criticism.

'I will say, 'Well done' to him before the game and hopefully at the end say 'Unlucky'. But that's a long way off.' 

Meanwhile, Pardew has hit out at 'unfair' fixture scheduling that sees West Bromwich Albion face West Ham with five days less to prepare.

West Brom take on Arsenal on Sunday and West Ham on Tuesday while David Moyes' s side are free of a fixture this weekend having last played on Boxing Day. 

Pardew's team are at the serious disadvantage because West Ham's fixture with Tottenham has been moved from Sunday to this coming Thursday due to safety concerns.

Mauricio Pochettino's side will also have had a week to get ready for the game at Wembley compared top Swansea, who played Watford on Saturday.

Tube stations around Wembley are set to be at reduced capacity on New Year's Eve prompting the Safety Advisory Group at the national stadium to recommend just 43,000 fans be let in – less than half the usual capacity.

Baggies boss Pardew is annoyed that his team are at a serious disadvantage after West Ham's fixture against Tottenham was put back to Thursday

The Premier League agreed to push the London derby back but in course meant West Brom and Swansea have much less time to rest.

'It is not so nice when we play West Ham,' said Pardew. 'That really is tough, whichever way you look at that. A two day turnaround for a Premier League game is just not fair.

'I find that very difficult to accept, for the protection of the group and players and where we are. I just don't understand it but I think their response has been, 'London, train drivers, transport issues'.' 

At the time, the Premier League said: 'Following discussions with the clubs involved, and Sky Sports, a decision was taken to seek an alternative date that would allow far more fans to attend the match.'