West Ham United's Sam Allardyce doubtful of re-signing Chelsea's Demba Ba

West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce believes that the club are unlikely to re-sign Chelsea striker Demba Ba in January.

The 28-year-old has struggled for playing time at Stamford Bridge, but Allardyce believes that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will be unwilling to let him go.

"I'm not so sure you'll be able to get Demba Ba with Romelu Lukaku on loan at Everton," talkSPORT quotes Allardyce as saying. "Jose will want three strikers.

"We have stated that we want to strengthen a certain area. That will get hundreds of agents picking the phone up to tell us who they have available. The phone is starting to get warmer. It's not red hot yet."

Since October, the Hammers have only managed to net twice in five league games, but Allardyce has revealed that Andy Carroll is due to return to training next week.