30 March 2005
Post Match: Joe Cole interview

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Two wins, two full games and a goal to boot has given Joe Cole's England hopes a huge boost.

The Chelsea man was one of the stars of the week as the Three Lions collected maximum points in their two qualifying games for next summer's World Cup in Germany.

Prior to the Northern Ireland match at Old Trafford on Saturday, Cole had made only two starts in his 19 caps. Now, though, his tally has doubled and the 23-year-old says that it can only help his claims for a regular place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's team.

"It's all about playing and I've gone a long way to cementing a place in the side," says Cole. "It's not there yet but I've made some huge strides this week and I'm very happy."

And Cole admits that he's becoming a more responsible player, tracking back and helping out his defence, an attribute needed at the highest level of the game.

"It's very important in Mr. Eriksson's team to be disciplined and I've done that over the two games, made a few chances and scored a goal."

"It's been a decent week for me, it's a good base now to try and come on and keep it going."

In Newcastle on Wednesday, three points was the main aim to keep England top of Group Six. With Azerbaijan conceding eight in their previous game, a goal-haul was anticipated by some, if a little unlikely. But Cole is happy with the victory, despite a few missed opportunities to increase their goal difference, and says that the final outcome was never in doubt.

"It was a good result. I thought their keeper was on fantastic form and kept us out," he says.

"But we were always going to break them down. It was a very solid performance from us.

"We controlled the game from start to finish, kept it steady and made enough chances to score a few more. We knew it would come in the end, and it was nice to get the first goal out of the way," he adds.

"Losing 8-0 was a freak result, so we've done our job tonight."

To watch the Joe Cole post-match interview, click on the links above.