West Ham are waiting impatiently for the African Nations Cup squad to be announced given Alex Song’s exclusion from the national team in October.

The club fully expects to lose both Diafra Sakho and Cheik Kouyate to Senegal when the squads are announced over the next week.

However, they can be forgiven for hoping Song finds himself still out in the Cameroon cold!

A source told ClaretandHugh: “We aren’t exactly sure which day the announcement will be made but it will before the end of the month and Alex’s exclusion for those games against Sierra Leone Group D back in October may be significant!

Song was sent off and hit with a three-match suspension following the elbowing Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic in the 4-0 World Cup defeat.

The 28-year-old missed the final Group A match in Brazil, a 4-1 loss to the hosts, and then Cameroon’s opening two Nations Cup qualifiers.

He was then excluded from the 25 man squad which met Sierra Leone on October 10 and 15 and our source said: “It’s an interesting one which it’s fair to say is being awaited with more than a little interest.”