Moyes believes footballers would prefer a break from top-flight football rather than playing matches to help football associations "fill their coffers."

His words echo sentiments expressed by Manchester City boss Mark Hughes and Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate, who have both called for the matches to be scrapped because of the unnecessary disruption they cause Premier League sides.

Everton had Ayegbeni Yakubu and Joleon Lescott on friendly duty during the week, while midfielder Tim Cahill also played for Australia, albeit it in a competitive World Cup qualifier in Bahrain.

Moyes said: "I think that the international teams feel as if they need the friendlies but I think club managers and myself think the friendlies are not as important as they are made out.

"The players deserve a rest as well. Everybody thinks they own a piece of them and they should be playing Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday. I don't know when people think these players get a bit of time to themselves.

"I think the top, top players need a break.

"So many people take it for granted that they should turn up for an international game and play and it's their duty to do so but it's not.

"The players have to do what is right for themselves and their careers. They are paid by their football club, they are not paid by their associations.

"You only need to see Theo Walcott getting injured this week, think how Arsene Wenger must be feeling and how disappointed they must be that a player has gone away and got injured.

"I think the clubs are right to stand up for their players and I think the players, in a lot of cases, don't look forward to playing in friendly internationals.

"The only people who need it tend to be the football associations to fill their coffers and get some more money in, that's the main reason for these games."

Moyes' antipathy towards internationals does not extend to competitive matches and he feels it is only right that players get the opportunity to play for their national teams where it counts.

But he insists a lack of common sense in the fixtures chosen for friendlies does more harm than good to footballers in the long term.

"Yakubu for example travelled 11 hours to Congo for a game of football and nearly all the Nigerian players play in Europe so why could they not have picked a game in Europe if they are going to pick a game at all," he added.

"These are the things that upset club managers.

"We are all definitely for [competitive] internationals games but from my point of view the players don't need friendles and the managers don't need it."