Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham striker eyes England return after doing his homework
Carlton Cole has been giving the rewind button on his DVD player a serious workout these past two months.
The 25-year-old West Ham striker has used the time it has taken torecover from a serious groin injury sustained while playing for Englandagainst Slovakia to do his homework on some of the world's top strikers.
He has been studying the way such as Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Aston Villa's John Carew dominate defences and he hopes what he has learned will earn him a place back in England manager Fabio Capello's squad.
Cole, who hopes to start for the first time in two months against relegation-threatened Middlesbrough at Upton Park tomorrow, said: 'I watch Didier Drogba and Bolton's Kevin Davies, he's one of the greatest in the Premier League at holding up the ball. I watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic, too. They are similar to me, big players who cause defenders a lot of problems.
'I talk to Didier a lot and he feels I can progress even further. I talk to Carew, too, because he is a striker who has scored a lot of goals everywhere.
'I've scored a few more goals than in previous seasons. I've worked on my game by looking at those DVDs at how other players play. It has been a lot of hard work away from the field as well as on it.'
Cole, who came through the youth ranks at Chelsea, is eager to make up for lost time, after failing to fulfil his star promise at Stamford Bridge.
Thoughtful and intelligent, he has taken time to mature and the attention shown by Capello, in handing him caps against Spain and Slovakia, not surprisingly has given his confidence a boost.
As a big man who does his work through the middle, a la Emile Heskey, he fits the Capello's preferred style of playing.
So much so that Capello has telephoned West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola to try to iron out some of the flaws in his game.
Cole said: 'Last year I was one of the players with the top assists in the Premier League behind Cesc Fabregas. Hopefully I can still do that and score goals as well. That would be a massive compliment on the way Franco (Zola) and Fabio want me to play.
'To get the England call was a great reward and an achievement. Everybody was very proud for me.'
It remains to be seen whether his rehabilitation has come soon enough to gain a place in Capello's squad for the World Cup matches next month against Kazakhstan and Andorra but he blames himself for the injury he sustained on international duty.
'It was an injury I could have prevented if I had had the right protocol before the game,' Cole admitted.
'I didn't get myself checked out. I tried to hide a niggling injury which I had shrugged off before but I couldn't this time. It was self-inflicted I'd say.'
Barring the unexpected, Middlesbrough, who need to win and affect a five goal swing in goal difference, will slide into the Championship.
That does not concern Cole.
'They wouldn't think about us,' he said. 'That's how football is. We almost got relegated a couple of seasons ago which was a really daunting time. I've been in that position. I feel sorry for them that they are in that position but we just have to get on as professionals and get the job done. We want to win this game. I want to get a couple of goals and finish my season off on a high.'
