Joe Cole insists that he will be fighting to win back his full
England place as soon as he can - and his goal against Germany U21s
couldn't have done him any harm.
But he admits he thought the crane involved in the rebuilding work was going to be needed to pick him up against Leeds!
Joe, who scored the first goal for England U21s in a 2-1 win against Germany on Friday night, after dancing through the home defence, says:
"Sven has probably decided I'm not fully fit and I am playing catch up at the moment.
"Give it a couple of months and hopefully I can fight my way back into his squad."
Injury has once more played havoc with his preseason preparations, but Joe says he will be raring to go when domestic hostilities resume at Derby.
He is delighted to have got through the Leeds game unscathed and adds:
"It's a week until the next league game and I should be 100% fit by then as long as I steer clear of problems with the U21s.
"It was good to play 90 minutes last weekend, and I felt a lot better.
"I thought I was going to fade away; at one point I made a run forward and thought they were going to have to get the crane out to get me back into position.
"You won't play a team with more energy than Leeds and we matched them.
"I felt we looked a lot stronger on the counter attack, so we did alright."
Joe says he is enjoying his defensive duties as much as the creative side and adds:
"I did as much running as anyone on Saturday; it was a tough game and a great result for us.
"People unfairly label me as a free spirit but I got some good tackles in, ran well, and had a goal disallowed.
"It's all part of a new style midfielder's game for me - and I rattled the chicken run at one point with a 50/50 didn't I?
"The fans appreciate hard work, and if they see you put a little bit of sweat on the shirt they are never going to moan.
"That's why they are great, passionate supporters.
"I have been doing everything right, living right, and I am just pleased I got through the 90 minutes at such a high tempo."
Joe says the whole side is looking more prepared, adding:
"The fans will have seen great organisation, a real team performance for the first time since I have been at West Ham.
"You have to keep talking and give someone a rollocking now and then, but we have great team spirit, similar to Leeds, and maybe we can go on and do better things.
"They were two of the hardest games of the season and good performances to build on.
"It's only one point but one point more than a few clubs and we have a game in hand on most, so it's not a bad position.
Having used just 14 players so far - the lowest number in the Premiership - Glenn Roeder knows his squad is wafer thin, despite the signing of Don Hutchison this week.
He is hoping that Joe, Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick and indeed the other players away on international duty come back injury free next week.
"I'll come back with no more worries about my foot - touch wood - and we can really kick on then from there.
"All we've given ourselves is a good platform to build on, so now we need to push on as a team and as a club - then it should be OK."
But he admits he thought the crane involved in the rebuilding work was going to be needed to pick him up against Leeds!
Joe, who scored the first goal for England U21s in a 2-1 win against Germany on Friday night, after dancing through the home defence, says:
"Sven has probably decided I'm not fully fit and I am playing catch up at the moment.
"Give it a couple of months and hopefully I can fight my way back into his squad."
Injury has once more played havoc with his preseason preparations, but Joe says he will be raring to go when domestic hostilities resume at Derby.
He is delighted to have got through the Leeds game unscathed and adds:
"It's a week until the next league game and I should be 100% fit by then as long as I steer clear of problems with the U21s.
"It was good to play 90 minutes last weekend, and I felt a lot better.
"I thought I was going to fade away; at one point I made a run forward and thought they were going to have to get the crane out to get me back into position.
"You won't play a team with more energy than Leeds and we matched them.
"I felt we looked a lot stronger on the counter attack, so we did alright."
Joe says he is enjoying his defensive duties as much as the creative side and adds:
"I did as much running as anyone on Saturday; it was a tough game and a great result for us.
"People unfairly label me as a free spirit but I got some good tackles in, ran well, and had a goal disallowed.
"It's all part of a new style midfielder's game for me - and I rattled the chicken run at one point with a 50/50 didn't I?
"The fans appreciate hard work, and if they see you put a little bit of sweat on the shirt they are never going to moan.
"That's why they are great, passionate supporters.
"I have been doing everything right, living right, and I am just pleased I got through the 90 minutes at such a high tempo."
Joe says the whole side is looking more prepared, adding:
"The fans will have seen great organisation, a real team performance for the first time since I have been at West Ham.
"You have to keep talking and give someone a rollocking now and then, but we have great team spirit, similar to Leeds, and maybe we can go on and do better things.
"They were two of the hardest games of the season and good performances to build on.
"It's only one point but one point more than a few clubs and we have a game in hand on most, so it's not a bad position.
Having used just 14 players so far - the lowest number in the Premiership - Glenn Roeder knows his squad is wafer thin, despite the signing of Don Hutchison this week.
He is hoping that Joe, Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick and indeed the other players away on international duty come back injury free next week.
"I'll come back with no more worries about my foot - touch wood - and we can really kick on then from there.
"All we've given ourselves is a good platform to build on, so now we need to push on as a team and as a club - then it should be OK."