West Ham ace Carlton Cole has targetted a January return, as he bids to help the Hammers climb free of the relegation zone.

The England international has been a big loss to Gianfranco Zola since injuring his cruciate ligament during last month's victory over Burnley.

The Hammers have struggled since and find themselves in the drop zone as the busy Christmas period approaches. A narrow defeat to in-form Birmingham yesterday, heaped further pressure on Zola.

But Cole is on the fast track to recovery and will be back to help the diminutive Italian come January - if of course, Zola is still in a job.

The former Chelsea man is desperate to return to first team action and do what he does best - score goals.

"I have to build up the muscles and do some rigorous rehab work to protect the knee and it is going to be like that for the rest of my career," he said.

"Hopefully I will be back some time in January. I just need to get back fit and help the Hammers.

"It was welcoming news when I got told by the specialist ad hopefully I can focus on getting back fit and scoring goals."