Guy calls it a day

West Ham United full back Guy Demel has announced his retirement from international football so that he may concentrate on his club career.

The 31-year-old Ivory Coast defender was lined up to travel with his national squad to the African Cup of Nations, which are being held in South Africa in January and February of next year.

However Demel, a French citizen who only gained an Ivorian passport in 2004 is understood to have announced his retirement from the international scene - although the reasons for this are unknown at present.

After signing for West Ham from SV Hamburg in 2011, injury prevented the defender from playing a full 90 minutes for West Ham until the play-off Final against Blackpool last May - some nine months after joining the club.

However having shaken off that injury Demel has been a virtual ever-present in the first team since and has already made more appearances for West Ham in 2012/13 than he did in the entire 2011/12 campaign.

The former Hamburg player signed a two-year contract when joining West Ham, which is set to expire next summer. However the club have an option to sign a Demel for a further 12 months.

* Guy Demel - KUMB profile and match notes