Carlton Cole has reiterated that "I am here for the team" after another tireless performance at the head of the West Ham United attack.
The 24-year-old, favoured over the rested Dean Ashton in the Hammers attack against Manchester United, was up against the Premier League's leading centre-back partnership in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, but kept plugging away all afternoon in what proved a famous 2-1 victory. "It is a hard position to play when you are up front alone on your own," he said.
"You have got to work hard and graft. You have got to make sure the two defenders are occupied at all times and at least try and nick a goal or try and do something to create a goal." Cole's commitment to the cause was underlined by a brilliant chase back and tackle on Carlos Tevez - such moments help lift the crowd and set the tone.
"I am here for the team," said Cole, well aware of the expectations of the Boleyn Ground faithful and how they demand desire as much as dynamism. "The team also needs players like Mark Noble, Hayden Mullins and Scott Parker in the midfield just tearing into it. We are not scared of anybody that we play and that is the whole spirit of the side."
He added that it was not just the starting eleven who gave their all, but also those emerging from the bench. "We have got great players to come in and do jobs. John Pantsil come in and done brilliant, Dean Ashton come in and done brilliant. The subs were fantastic and that's what we need in the side.
"It showed the spirit of the side when we went one-nil down to come back out and get two goals in reply. That's just brilliant and that's what we are about. It was a great feeling. Our home form has not been great and for Man United to come down here and us get the result - we are all over the moon.
"We worked hard to get the result and I felt we were the better team all game." Cole felt he could have scored early in the first half, when picked out superbly by Mark Noble, only to put his header over the bar. "Those are the chances that if you can convert them, you can win games," admitted Cole. "I am working on my finishing in training so it will come eventually."
It was Cole's close friend Anton Ferdinand who eventually opened the Hammers scoring and he could not have been happier to see the homegrown centre-back celebrating after two months out. "Anton is a brilliant player, we all know it. He has had a turbulent time and I am so happy for him. It hurts to be injured. I have been with him every step of the way.
"We have been together a lot so I know how much this goal meant to him. I am so happy for him that he got the goal and when he came on, he didn't give [Louis] Saha or their frontmen a sniff. That's what he's about and when he's at his best" Such resolute defending will surely be needed on Tuesday when Alan Curbishley's side make the short trip to north London, but Cole is confident.
"Why not do the same again to Arsenal? That's what we are about. We are a hard-working team and when you work hard, most of the times you get the result. We have been unlucky in a few games as well. Hopefully we will get what we need in the next game, we just need to go out with the same work-rate."