Joe Cole determined to show Fabio Capello his worth

The 28-year-old missed the first two months of the season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, which he damaged during Chelsea's 4-1 FA Cup third-round replay win over Southend United on 14 January.

He returned to action at the end of September and played a key role in the 3-0 win at Arsenal last weekend but was hauled off at half-time by boss Carlo Ancelotti during the Carling Cup exit at Blackburn on Wednesday.

The midfielder has been told by club manager Carlo Ancelotti that he is not a certain starter for Chelsea when they travel to Manchester City tomorrow in the Premier League.

Cole accepts that this is not an ideal situation if he is going to force his way into Fabio Capello's plans for South Africa.

He said: "I know what I am capable of and I need to get back to that level.

"I'm not far off, you know that I have had some good games and I have had some poor games, that is understandable when you come back from a long-term injury.

"One thing is for sure, I will fight tooth and nail to get into the team because that is where I was before I had to come out of the squad with injury."

Cole has not played for England since the 4-1 win over Croatia in September 2008 and revealed that he has not spoken to manager Capello since suffering his knee injury.

The Italian was in Cape Town today to find out who England's opponents will be, with the draw for next summer's tournament taking place tonight.

Asked if he had heard from Capello, Cole said: "No, no. I think he is the England manager and he is concerned with winning games for England. He has players that he has to concentrate upon at the moment and that is fine by me. As long as I know, looking at it, that as long as you are playing well you are getting in squads - that is the best thing as a team and a squad to have.

"You want to know that if you are doing the business on the pitch then you are going to get in. The team has done a great job and I am looking to be part of it."

Chelsea and England team-mate John Terry is certain to be part of the England squad in South Africa and will also skipper Ancelotti's team for tomorrow's big match against City in Eastlands.

But it could have been a very different situation had the central defender signed for Mark Hughes before the start of the season. City's attempts to sign the 28-year-old was bold and ambitious and the fate of both clubs could well have been dramatically different - City lie 14 points behind Chelsea in the Premier League - if he had accepted their reported offers of up to £200,000-a-week to switch to the new rich kids on the block.

Terry has provided the solid foundation upon which Chelsea's seemingly inexorable surge to the top has been built, while City's pursuit of a place in top four has been constructed on the sand of Kolo Toure's and Joleon Lescott's weak partnership in central defence.

As Chelsea showed in the 3-0 win at Arsenal, the team's first-choice defence is a formidable barrier to pass - unlike the second string who conceded three goals at Blackburn - and Terry feels it is time their efforts were acknowledged as much as the quality of the attacking play.

He added: "I think when we conceded a few goals from set plays earlier in the season everyone looked at our defence and said it didn't look the same.

"People said we didn't look as solid or as strong but we have conceded the least of anyone else in the division.

"We're not getting the credit for that, but that doesn't matter. If we can keep scoring goals, keeping clean sheets and winning games that's great.

"When the manager came in we had a few difficulties with set plays but we have looked at it and it's something we touch on every week. Attacking set plays as well as defending them.

"I think our defensive ones have been great. The forward lads, like Didier [Drogba], come in and head so many balls away while Frank [Lampard] sits in at the near post. We're looking good."