West Ham United Football Club

• Nickname:Hammers
• Founded:1895
• Manager:Sam Allardyce

• Ground:Upton Park
• Capacity:35595

Cole lifts lid on his Chelsea days

12 Mar 2010 - 11:42:12

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West Ham United striker Carlton Cole has revealed that his time with Chelsea was the unhappiest of his career.

The 26-year-old is expected to start against his former club this weekend after recently returning to first-team action.

Cole started only six games during his time at Stamford Bridge and was loaned out to the likes of Wolves, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before moving to Upton Park in the summer of 2006.

He is enjoying life with the Hammers, telling the Evening Standard: "If the truth be known, I'm still coming back from almost two months out injured and I know I'm not as bright yet as I should be but hopefully this game will put me another rung up the ladder towards full fitness and confidence.

"Playing against the top defenders and doing well against them only helps your confidence and that's how I see this game.

"I had good days at Chelsea but not that many. My future is at West Ham now and I want to put one over Chelsea because this is my club. Everything happens for a reason. I always knew that, once I got games under my belt, I would learn and progress.

"I'm at a happy place now but, when I was there, I wasn't that happy. I wasn't maturing there and I was seen as the little boy. It can be hard when you come through the ranks at a club.

"I would train well all week and know I wasn't even going to be on the bench at the weekend. There were so many stars there it was hard for me to make an impact.

"I was always going out on loan and I didn't want to do that. When I finally left it was a relief really, a weight off my shoulders, because I could go somewhere else and push on."