West Ham United travel to Sunderland full of confidence following their dramatic comeback against Arsenal last weekend.
The Hammers recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit to snatch a valuable Barclays Premier League point through goals from Carlton Cole and Alessandro Diamanti. Six days on, Zola and his players face Steve Bruce's Sunderland at the Stadium of Light brimming with positive thoughts.
"It's been very good this week," he said. "Those games can really affect your confidence in a positive way. Coming back from 2-0 at half-time against a team like Arsenal is not a common thing, so we're proud of that and will try to learn something from that.
"I wish I could take the credit but, trust me, it's all down to the players. I've done so many substitutions before and sometimes they don't work. It's just the players. They came on with the right attitude and made the difference."
Both Diamanti and Hines will be pushing for a starting place on Wearside as the Hammers seek to end a run of eight league matches without a victory. However, Guille Franco performed well on his full debut and has drawn praise from fellow forward Carlton Cole.
Zola will be hoping the pair, and the rest of his squad, are inspired by the 1-0 win they scored at the same venue on 23 November last year, a success that ended a seven game winless streak.
With Diamanti, Hines and the likes of Junior Stanislas and Radoslav Kovac pushing for starts, the manager has plenty of decisions to make ahead of Saturday's fixture. He also has the likes of Danny Gabbidon, Manuel Da Costa and Luis Jimenez pushing hard for starting berths - or even just places on the bench.
"It gives me more options, which is a good thing, but not a dilemma. I'm here in the interests of the team and they do the same. I will pick the team on Saturday and those that don't play will be ready to come on and make a difference. Diamanti is a very good option. On Saturday, I will decide."
Three players who will definitely not feature at Sunderland, for differing reasons, are Scott Parker, Kieron Dyer and Dean Ashton.
Parker will serve a one-match ban following his sending-off against Arsenal, while Dyer and Ashton are injured, earning sympathy from their manager.
"Kieron Dyer, unfortunately, was coming back and he got another problem with his muscles. We're talking about two-or-three weeks, hopefully. He got a problem with his hamstring."
"I just feel so sorry for him. This boy comes back and when he is ready to get involved in the game and be 100 per cent fit, he gets injured again. It's a real pity because he is one of the players who could have given us something very good. It was in training. He was running and he felt a pain in his muscles."
"You can understand because he has been out for a long time and every time he tries to get fit, he picks up little injuries. They are not big issues, they are little injuries, but it does his confidence no good.
"I have told him he has to fight. He will get there. It is frustrating, but you can't afford to have frustrations because they don't help."
Ashton, meanwhile, is also still no nearer a comeback following a long-term ankle problem. He is not training with the first team and there is no date set for his likely return because of the nature of his injury. "It is another frustrating situation for me," said Zola about the forward who has not figured at all since September 2008.