West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald has ruled out a move for Jamaica international Ricardo Gardner, ending rumours that the former Bolton stalwart could have been set for an unlikely return to the Premier League.

Gardner, who has been without a club since being released by Bolton last summer, has been training with West Ham last for the past few weeks, fuelling rumours that he was set to rejoin former Bolton manager Sam Allerdyce and several former teammates. McDonald insists, however, that the player is simply training to stay fit as he continues the hunt for a new club.

"Ricardo has just been in for a few weeks trying to get his fitness back and we've helped him out with a couple of games [for the development squad] as well," McDonald told UK online publication London24 (london24.com).

"We've got no spaces in our 25-man squad so there's nothing doing.

"We had a great relationship with him at Bolton and he has to come in and do a little bit of training to try to top up his fitness, and thats what he's done.

"Fortunately, we've let him play a couple of games so he's ready and raring to go if somebody needs a left-back, left midfielder, left winger."

Gardner recently featured for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz, albeit in an unsuccessful defence of the Caribbean Cup in December. Gardner spent 14 years at Bolton, since joining the club after the 1998 World Cup, he went on to make some 347 appearances.

Neil McDonald