Lampard is an asset to any side, insists Cole

The 29-year-old is pressing for a recall to Steve McClaren's starting XI this weekend against Estonia having missed the last two Euro 2008 qualifiers with a troublesome thigh problem.

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Lampard got through the full 90 minutes of his club's Barclays Premier League clash with Bolton last weekend and believes he is now ready to step back into the England fold.

However, his place alongside Steven Gerrard at the heart of midfield is no longer a certainty, given the form of Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry in the games against Israel and Russia at Wembley last month.

But Cole hopes to see his Blues colleague back in an England shirt as soon as possible.

He declared: "Frank is invaluable for Chelsea and England.

"Frank is one of the best midfielders in the world and as far as getting goals from midfield is concerned, he is the benchmark for everyone.

"We certainly missed him with Chelsea and England. It is good to have him back, another world class player in the squad."

Cole fully understands that no-one is able to take a place in the England starting XI for granted with so many other players waiting in the wings to grab their own chance.

He said: "The manager has got a lot of selection problems, which he will be loving because he is got a lot of competition for places.

"The best teams have always had good competition for places and that is great - Frank's back, Wayne (Rooney) is back, Emile [Heskey] came back into the fold last time.

"There are English players all over the league doing well. It gives the manager a good headache."

Cole reflected: "As a footballer you have always got to be on your toes, you have always got to understand that you have to perform, that is the pressure you are under.

"I am happy with my last two performances for England and my next two will be even better, hopefully."

England could move a step closer to next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland with another home victory at Wembley against a nation ranked 110th in the world, who have lost eight of their 10 Group E qualifiers.

It certainly has been a welcome transition from the criticism directed at both manager McClaren and his players alike following some dismal results earlier in the campaign.

Cole said: "Teams evolve and they go through difficult spells. We went through a difficult spell last season, but all credit to the manager and people around the place who have turned it around.

"The ship is still turning, we are not full steam ahead yet, not at the top level of our game. We feel there is more to come yet.

"But we are not getting overly excited - just like last season we did not think we were one of the worst international teams, now we do not think we are one of the best.

"We are just firing along nicely and we want to put in a performance again on Saturday."

The midfielder added: "We are pleased with the position we are in, but we have still got a job to do, games to win.

"It is okay saying 'we have got 3 points here at home to these', but you have to do it. We must stayed focused."

Despite their superb recent competitive form - which includes five clean sheets following the 2-0 defeat in Croatia exactly 12 months ago - there remains an air of cautious optimism in the squad, with everyone conscious the battle is not yet won.

Cole said: "We have had four 3-0 games in qualifying and at the moment we are flying high - but you have still got to guard against complacency.

"We are very confident at the moment but we are still going to have to go out and perform on Saturday - you have always got to go and do your job."

The Chelsea midfielder insisted: "We do not want to even talk about Russia - we need to get the win on Saturday and then we will start to focus on the other game."

Cole maintained no-one is getting carried away with talk of qualification for the Euro 2008 finals just yet.

"We do not dare think about them," he said. "There are so many hiccups and slip-ups in football. We have all been in this game long enough to know that - look at the Northern Ireland game (when England lost a World Cup qualifier in Belfast in September 2005).

"We have to keep on our toes and keep concentrating.

"It would be lovely to get the job done this week - but first things first, we have got to beat Estonia and then hopefully Wednesday night we will not be booking our holidays for the summer but going to Switzerland."