Skipper John Terry feels Chelsea teammate Cole is in sizzling form and should be in the South Africa-bound England squad

Joe Cole should be in England team: Terry

Skipper John Terry feels Chelsea teammate Cole is in sizzling form and should be in the South Africa-bound England squad

Impressive: Joe Cole

But Terry has urged his teammate for club and country to focus fully on the World Cup campaign with England if he is included in Fabio Capello's final 23-man squad.

Cole has been the subject of speculation linking him with a move away from Stamford Bridge after an up-and-down season for the midfielder, despite Chelsea winning the Premier League and FA Cup double.

Terry is a big admirer of Cole who finished the campaign in impressive form and also did well as a second-half substitute for his country against Japan in Graz on Sunday.

But Terry also accepts that sorting out Cole's future may not be resolved before the England squad head to South Africa, and wants him to concentrate on the job in hand in the same way as Capello with his well-documented contract situation.

Terry said: "There is the Capello contract and it's the same with the players. Joe's contract is up and so are those of a couple of others.

"But his (Capello's) clear focus is to speak after the World Cup (about his contract) Hopefully, Joe will do the same.

"It's a time now to knuckle down and concentrate on us although obviously we'd love Joe to stay (at Chelsea).
"I could say it would be nice to get Joe sorted before the World Cup, but sometimes it's not as easy as that.
"We've got a massive tournament, we've got a manager - you know how he is ufffd and he doesn't want any distractions."

Terry has been impressed with the way Cole stepped up to the mark at club level and then latterly for England and hopes it is sufficient to convince Capello he should be part of his plans when trimming the squad down from the initial group of 30. Chelsea captain Terry said: "Joe has been very good. Towards the end of the season when we've needed big players, Joe has been one of them at Chelsea.

"He scored a massive goal at Old Trafford and did really well.

"The manager (Capello) will make that final decision on whether to pick Joe. He's seen enough of Joe, what he's done in the last 10 days and against Japan, to know what he can do.

"With all of the lads, we all want to go and Joe's no different from anyone. He's eager to impress, eager to do extra training, eager to do anything he can to put himself on the plane."

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels