Having received special one-to-one training from West Ham United manager Gianfranco Zola at Chadwell Heath, all the hard work is now paying off for striker Carlton Cole.
The towering forward struck in both of the Hammers' Christmas fixtures, scoring the second goal in the 4-1 Boxing Day win at Portsmouth before curling in a vital equaliser in the 2-1 victory against Stoke City at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday. Cole, who has been working on his finishing with Zola, said he was delighted with both his own personal success and that of the team as a whole. However, the 25-year-old is not going to rest on his laurels. Instead, he wants to start taking even more of the chances that fall his way.
"The main thing for me is that we're getting the results now. It was a great six-point weekend for us and we're up to tenth place now and I'm just happy for the manager. For me personally, I've had so many chances to score and I've managed to get two in three days. I'm chuffed but against Stoke I think I should have got more. There were a few times when the things I've been practising in training didn't quite come off. I'd have got a couple more if I'd executed them right.
"Compared to last season I wasn't getting in the right positions. Now, I'm getting into the right positions and trying to execute them. There's a few times when I should have executed the chances but I'm working on it and hopefully I'm going to get there with the help and faith of the manager."
Cole, who now has six goals in all competitions this season, is grateful to the former Italy forward for his willingness to offer him such personal assistance. While the pair have only been sharing a training pitch for four months, the former England Under-21 striker believes Zola's influence is already starting to rub off on him.
"Every manager has got different techniques and I'm just grateful that I've got one of the best players that ever played in the Premier League as a mentor and a coach. He wasn't my type of striker but he can teach me a few things that I can take on board. The goal against Stoke was a classic example of how he would score a goal - with my back to goal in an awkward position and curling it into the far corner. That's what he used to do so I'm just lucky to have the privilege of him teaching me those sorts of things."
As well as scoring goals, Cole is also creating them for his team-mates. His cut-back to Jack Collison led to the Wales midfielder's equaliser at Portsmouth. Then, with just a couple of minutes remaining on Sunday, Cole's shot was diverted past Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen by substitute Diego Tristan.
"It was on target but I'm not sure if it was going in or not. I think Sorensen was going to probably scoop it up so it was good that Diego was in the right place at the right time and he won us the game. I'll definitely take the assist."
The recent impressive form means Cole is now looking and sounding confident going into 2009. With Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against Barnsley and vital Premier League fixtures against Newcastle United and Fulham to look forward to, the Londoner is looking to build on United's promising festive season.
"This is what we've been working towards. The gaffer has been explaining to everyone that games like those against Stoke and Portsmouth were winnable games. We've done that and shown that we can score goals. Six points in three days is a great week's work."