West Ham United have received a boost with Alex Song left out of Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations squad.

Hammers boss Sam Allardyce had been preparing to lose African trio Song (Cameroon), Diafra Sakho (Senegal) and Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal) for the tournament which starts on January 17.

Song seems to have fallen out of favour with the Cameroon hierarchy following his sending off during the 4-0 defeat against Croatia during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.