Hammers striker Cole happy to have found a home at Upton Park

Cole found his path blocked at Chelsea by the arrival of signings like Didier Drogba and loan moves to Wolves, Charlton and Aston Villa did not work out.

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Even his early days at West Ham brought little more than frustration for the former England Under-21 international as he was restricted to a fringe role.

But injuries to Dean Ashton, Bobby Zamora and Craig Bellamy during the first half of this season finally gave Cole the chance to lay roots in the first team.

He may have accrued more yellow cards than goals this season - seven to four - but Cole has worked tirelessly up front for West Ham, often on his own in front of a five-man midfield.

Tomorrow at Eastlands, Cole is likely to continue his burgeoning partnership with Ashton. The two are not naturally suited together up front but began to show signs of a decent understanding in last Saturday's 2-1 win over Fulham.

"This is the first time ever I've had 15 games back to back in my whole career. Curbs has given me the opportunity to do so. I'm so happy right now and I couldn't be in a better place," said Cole.

"Everyone needs a manager who will stick by them through thick and thin, and usually players do find that a manager like Curbs is like that.

"Curbs was saying to me after I missed a good chance against Fulham: 'Don't forget what you've done prior to this. I know you're disappointed you didn't score but you can't let that affect you. What you've done for the last three months has been good for us'.

"I took that with a bit of pride and I'm going to try and do more for him now in the coming months.

"Deano linked up well against Fulham. It's not been like that in prior games but we really were linking up.

"Right now it's exciting times for us and hopefully we can progress. That's all we want to do now."

West Ham head to Eastlands tomorrow buoyed by recent results - the home wins over Manchester United and Fulham - and confident of continuing their impressive away form.

A quirk of the fixture list will see the Hammers face high-flying City twice in four days - but booking an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Sheffield United is the immediate priority.

"The next game is going to be vital for us as players, the club as a whole and the fans, giving everyone a boost," said Cole.

"It's going to be a very tricky tie. We're good away from home and we've got some players coming back from injury, which is really good.

"Hopefully we can progress in the FA Cup and then get a result in the league game after that. It's a really exciting time."

Club captain Lucas Neill is likely to be available after missing the weekend win over Fulham with a hamstring problem, while Julien Faubert could be involved again.

The France international made a brief appearance off the bench on Saturday after just 45 minutes of reserve team action since rupturing his Achilles during pre-season.

"I have a bit of thinking to do about the cup game because we play them again on Sunday - but we are going to give it a go," said Curbishley.

"We do feel that the FA Cup is a competition that we can attack.

"I have to be a bit careful with Faubert because he has been out for a long time.

"It was probably a bit too early for him on Saturday but he was keen to play and I decided that if he got 20 minutes he could change the game. He brings tremendous pace."