Ashley Cole has hailed the impact on the England squad of Fabio Capello as he set his sights on winning 100 caps for his country.

Cole believes that Capello has removed the fear factor from England's performances as they booked their spot in the 2010 World Cup finals by overwhelming Croatia 5-1 at Wembley.

The Chelsea left-back feels Capello has given the squad the belief to perform to the best of their ability after reeling off eight successive wins in their qualifying group.

Cole told TheFA.com: "I think Mr Capello has had a very big impact. He has instilled a lot of confidence, belief and courage to play.

"Sometimes in the past we got a little bit scared of the ball, particularly at home, and we were scared to make a mistake. Now it's different.

"People will make mistakes but the manager has brought a lot out of the players. At the World Cup, hopefully his knowledge at winning at the highest level will give us that edge."

Cole added: "We know with the players England have, we should be achieving more than we have in the past.

"When we have got to tournaments in the past, we've perhaps gone into our own shells a little.

"I think the manager has just tried to draw that confidence out from the players and the team and that has made us get better together.

"He knows how to get a team together and it certainly seems to be working so far. He is trying to get the best out of the players and he doesn't see us every day so it can be hard.

"Mr Capello has done a great job so far and he will have more time to get the best out of us ahead of and in South Africa."

Cole made his England debut eight years ago against Albania in a World Cup qualifier and won his 76th cap against Croatia on Wednesday evening.

He said: "I started at a young age. I think I had only played about 10 games for Arsenal and three under-21 matches and I was straight into the senior team.

"I am used to it now. In my mind I should have had way more caps. I've missed a lot of games. But my aim is to one day reach 100 caps for England.

"That would be a really special thing to do. There aren't many players who have done that. Becks (David Beckham) is one of them and to be on that list would be amazing.

"It would also be brilliant for me to play in a third World Cup. I've been an England player for a long time now.

"I've been through tournaments and I've also had the heartache of missing out on tournaments. I know what it is like to get to a tournament, how everyone feels, the manager, the players, the fans.

"Reaching South Africa goes some way to putting the disappointment of not reaching Euro 2008 behind us."

Cole is content with life at Stamford Bridge and can see similarities between Guus Hiddink and new coach Carlo Ancelotti.

He said: "We have kept it going the form of last year. It was a great end to the season for us, winning the FA Cup final and we've started the same way even though we have a new manager.

"He has come in and not changed a lot really. If anything, though, we have improved over the summer and, so far, so good. We are happy.

"Ancelotti is very good, very relaxed. There are a lot of similarities with Guus Hiddink. He was very relaxed and calm as well.

"We trained very hard and we wanted to win for him but we knew when to relax and we could have fun with him and the new manager is the same.

"He has told us to go out and enjoy our football and so far we have been playing well."