“The hardest working squad I’ve ever known”

Carlton Cole sums it up very neatly indeed when discussing this phenomenal season declaring: “This is the hardest-working squad I’ve played in here.”

After eight years at the Boleyn, few are in a better position to judge the quality of the current squad and the 31 year old striker says: “We have got the right mix [of players].

He told the Standard: “We have some great players. We have got a great bunch of lads. We all have a great understanding of each other and everyone loves each other as brothers.

“That is why we are doing so well at the moment.”

Cole will be hoping to take his chance in the Hammers first-team at the turn of the year, when Sakho will be away on international duty with Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations.