It’s good to see Joe Cole back in action with a smile on his face – and it’s good news for Chelsea and England.
Cole has been sidelined with a cruciate knee problem for eight months but came back and set up Salomon Kalou’s Carling Cup winner against QPR.
“I’m back now and it’s blinding,” Cole said.
“But I’m not going to get ahead of myself. There is going to be a lot of ups and downs. All I can do is keep working hard in training.”
He added: “I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself, but I’m pleased to get 90 minutes under my belt.
“Whether I can last 90 minutes in a Premier League I don’t know, but I know there’s still a lot more hard work ahead. It’s just good to be back after so long.”
Carlo Ancelotti made Cole skipper for the night, and he led by example.
“If you see the size of the squad we have, a lot don’t play week-in week-out so it’s vital for them to get airtime,” said assistant boss Ray Wilkins.
“It’s entirely up to the young men to push themselves forward and the two that played have been doing so in the reserves and training.
“We want to win everything we enter. Every side that takes to the field in a Chelsea shirt wants to win the game and the tournament they are playing in. If we can blood a few on the way, all well and good.”