Exclusive Carlton Cole interview: Injuries, West Ham's relegation battle and the World Cup

By Neil McLeman in Mirror Football Blog

Published 23:00 18/03/10

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Carlton Cole claims he is winning the battle against his wounded knee after support from fellow patient Fabio Capello.

The West Ham striker missed two months of action after snapping his posterior cruciate ligaments back in November.

But as he faces a crucial two months for club and country, he revealed he has been boosted on his road to recovery by the England boss who underwent his own knee replacement op in January.

"He spoke to me when I was out injured," revealed Cole. "He had a knee operation at the time so we had the same sort of problem.

“I can't say we compared medical notes but he certainly understood where I was coming from.

“He had a major operation on his knee so hopefully he feels better now. I am feeling better - I am certainly back playing before him!"

Cole opted against going under the knife and was back in claret and blue by the end of January to help the fight against the drop. But despite becoming a gym junkie to build up the strength in his right leg, the 26-year-old admitted he is not yet 100 per cent.

"I am still working on my injury because I was supposed to be out for four months or even more if I had the operation," he said.

"I had treatment to get myself back so I am ready to help the club progress. I am still doing my rehab now so I think the manager is covering me now because he doesn't want me to do too much and blow up. It is steady progress for me. It has been a long way back for me.

"I will make a full recovery. It is just a matter of time. I am happy and my knee is feeling good."

But Cole only appeared from the bench at Stamford Bridge last weekend and do not be amazed if he does not start at the Emirates tomorrow.

"I am not sure how that will pan out or what team we will play," he said. "Then, most importantly for us, we have got the Wolves game on the Tuesday and then Stoke next Saturday. They are down there in a dogfight with us so if we can get three points out of both of those matches, we are on the route to surviving. I need to save my legs for those games so I can be fully firing and not too tired."

Co-owner David Gold said he thought the 26-year-old "was going to die" because of his efforts in the win over Birmingham. But the new owners were less complimentary when threatening to cut players pay before that game.

"We know that he was only saying that to get a reaction out of us," said Cole. "He wanted us to work for our money but I don't think he knew how hard everyone was working at the time."

The takeover also stopped the need to sell off any of the club's prime playing assets in January and Cole wants to see out the five-year deal he signed in 2008.

"West Ham has given my career a new lease of life," he said. "I want to repay the fans and make sure I do well. When I speak to Zola, I can tell how proud he is of me so I want to try and repay him and try and help the club get out of where we are."

Cole said the problems this season started on the pre-season trip to China. But he wants to finish this troubled campaign with West Ham sitting comfortably in mid-table, a personal goal tally of 15 (he has nine) and a ticket to South Africa. After Peter Crouch's double against Egypt, he now appears to be competing for the final forward's spot.

"I was privileged to be in the last squad against Egypt and it shows he (Capello) still has an eye on me to go to the World Cup," he reckoned. "I was just happy to be involved and that was a big stepping stone for me."

But Cole still reckons the final World Cup 23 could yet be affected by injuries.

"I know if I am firing, I will hopefully be in and around the squad but I know I might be the 24th man," said the winner of seven England caps.

"It depends on injuries. I feel so sorry for Becks because I know how much it meant to him.

“There are going to be a lot of injuries I think because when there are major competitions coming up and people want to get in, they start tensing up and their bodies are not functioning the same and that is when you start to get injuries.

“You can never know what is going to happen."

Barclays will be donating £1,000 per goal and £500 for every effort on target in the Barclays Premier League this Sport Relief weekend.

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