Carlton Cole is certain that the goals will start flowing for the West Ham United strikers soon.
The club's leading scorer this season, who has just signed a new five-year contract, feels that the settled partnership between himself and Craig Bellamy will soon bear fruit. "We've got a good understanding together and Craig's a very clever player and he's great to play with," he said. "Once we've worked on our relationship then I think we can enjoy success if we start getting more chances. We need to get some more goals under our belts because we've not got many between us and it's not great."
Bellamy was desperately unlucky to see his 25-yard drive come back off the inside of the post in the recent game at Liverpool and Cole came close to opening the scoring against Tottenham Hotspur with a header from a corner that flashed wide, before seeing his goalbound effort blocked by Benoit Assou-Ekotto's arms.
The 25-year-old forward believes it is just these small things that need to start going in favour of him and his fellow strikers. "I could have scored against Spurs had it not been for a handball and it's those marginal decisions which can kill you and cost you the games. When I get in a position I always try and finish."
After ending a run of 25 games without a clean sheet, the team responded in style by then keeping three in a row - including one in the trip to Anfield - but Cole says the new-found solidity at the back has not affected offerings up front.
"For the past few games we've looked solid and the defence has been excellent. We've been building from the defence and looking to create more chances for myself and Craig Bellamy. I don't think us being more solid is affecting the other end of the pitch, I just think we need more creativity and that's what we need to work on."