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Carlton Cole has set himself two targets for the rest of the season and while neither is simple he is confident both are within reach.
Cole has just returned to the West Ham team after two months out with a knee injury. It is an understatement to say that his manager, Gianfranco Zola, has badly missed his big striker.
In the seven Premier League matches during Cole's lay-off, West Ham scored only four goals, a major reason why they now find themselves in the bottom three of the table.
Which brings us back to Cole's targets. The first is to make sure West Ham are still in the Premier League next term. The is second is to force his way back into the England squad in time for this summer's World Cup.
It is a year since Cole made his international debut in the 2-0 defeat to Spain and he went on to win six caps before injury caused him to miss the November friendly with Brazil.
Cole knows that should he begin to score regularly for his club side, not only will West Ham climb to safety but England coach Fabio Capello could recall him to face Egypt on 3 March.
“England and the World Cup is my main dream and I would love to get back into the squad,” he said. “I know Mr Capello has been speaking regularly with the medical staff here to assess how things are going and that is a good sign because he cares about my fitness.
“Hopefully, by the time the next squad is announced, I will be back to where I want to be and scoring goals. If I am doing that hopefully I will stay in his thoughts.”
For much of this season, the 26-year-old has been ploughing a lonely furrow up front for West Ham.
Even for a young man with the strength of Cole, it has been a daunting task and it says much about his willingness to soldier on in isolation, that he scored seven goals in 13 games before he was injured.
The belated arrival of Guillermo Franco helped take some of the weight off Cole's shoulders while the triple signing of Benni McCarthy, Mido and Ilan just before the transfer window closed has given the England man new hope ahead of tomorrow's clash at home to Birmingham.
“As a striker you need to be kept on your toes so that you can produce the goods regularly,” he said. “Now we have some good strikers, all competing with me for a place in the team. That can only be good for me and the club.
“They are all good technical players, good with the ball. Their final pass is precise and their hold-up play is excellent. That's all you want in a striking partner. Hopefully the manager will find a way to keep us all happy.”
Cole's relief at having company in the front line, is palpable. “I thought I did okay earlier in the season but sometimes I did feel I was too isolated up front,” he said. “Now I have much more support. We have the foundation in place now but we need to start scoring the goals which will help us climb away from the danger area.
“I'm feeling much fitter now. I'm still searching for 100 per cent sharpness but that will come. I want to be firing on all cylinders before long because I still have those targets to reach.”
