THE THURSDAY INTERVIEW: ASHLEY COLE

With 38 appearances to his name, few Chelsea players have been used more this season than Ashley Cole. He has been talking to Chelseafc.com about feeling good.

We are getting some mileage out of you this season.
It is the most I have ever played in a season. I am happy to be playing, it is nice to get this many games under your belt and the results have been coming so I have really enjoyed playing.

So you have plenty left in the tank to push on as the season reaches its climax?
That is why you are at big clubs like this. These are the games you want to come around and be fighting for and I am delighted that we could be in contention for three trophies, which is brilliant.

Do you have natural stamina?
As actual fitness goes, with the lungs, I have always been a fit guy. I always train to try to maintain that. The injuries are different and something you can't help but otherwise I am fit. I don't seem to get out of breath that easily.

You are 28-years-old now which is often talked about as the peak for a footballer. Have you felt a steady improvement?
My condition is fine and I have never been as fit as this year. But I worked hard in the summer to come back from injuries and I have come back strong. I have had a few niggles but I am happy with how many games I have got through.

What about your outright pace compared with when you were, say, 20-years-old?
No, I am a little bit slower. I can't get around quite as quick but the training we do here is always keeping you sharp and the way I play, I always like to get tight. So if I keep training on that, I think I will be alright.

What about mental maturity? Has your decision making improved?
That is hard because when you are playing in defence and you make one mistake, give one bad ball as I have found in my career, that is it, they score. One thing that makes you a good defender is when to play back, when to play forward. But having JT there makes it easier.

He speaks a lot and has good communication. That makes my job easier and his job easier. It is mostly concentration. Sometimes you are going to be caught out but being focused is the key.

Is decision making something coaches help with or is it more instinct?
Of course the coaches help because they will tell you when to play out and when not to but when you are in a game situation it is down to the player. Some coaches say that in your third of the pitch just kick it out, but sometimes you don't have to kick it out, you can play out and get around teams like that. But the older and more experienced you get, you know when to do that and when not.

You've spoken about your on-pitch relationship with John Terry and although you've had several different team-mates in front of you down the wing, JT inside you and Frank Lampard on the left of the midfield are near constants. Barely anyone plays as often as you three.
I think there is a real understanding. Like I said me and John are always talking constantly whether anyone else is there or not. We know where each other is. And with Lamps, as soon as I give him the ball he knows I am going to be in that space so we don't really look, he just puts these great balls in.

We seem to work well and we play together with England as well and it makes it easier the more games we play.

Has Guus Hiddink asked you to play differently compared with before he arrived?
At the start of the season I was attacking a lot. But now he has changed the team in the way we defend. We defend as a four a little bit more and let the other guys do the attacking and the results have shown that it has worked, we have done really well. The lads love him and he has brought out the best in a lot of players.

You are still in the FA Cup and if you win it again, that would be the fifth time, taking you ahead of the likes of Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Ray Parlour for wins in the modern era.
That would be brilliant. The FA Cup is always a great trophy and the atmosphere and everything that comes with it is great and if I ever get the chance to play in another final and win it, I would look back on my career and say yeah, I have won the Premier League but to win the FA Cup that many times would be a great honour.

What was mood like last night after the Anfield win?
We were a little bit disappointed that we didn't score four or five. When we came in everyone was saying we could have finished it there. But we are happy. It is always nice to go to Anfield and get a good result and it is going to be tough for them to come to the Bridge and score three goals.

Of course it could happen but we have got the players in our team to score goals. We have scored in every game apart from one since the new manager came in so we are very confident we can push on now and go through.

People say Dirk Kuyt has been one of Liverpool's best players this season. What is it like to play up against him?
He is hard because when he goes inside I have to trust our winger to stay with their right-back. I can't go tight on him because if I do and they play a one-two, I am out of position. It is hard because he is always moving into the hole behind the striker but when I have Essien and JT behind me, again speaking and covering inside, it does make it easier.

But sometimes we are saying in the game just let him have it there and drop off and let them try the long ball. I think it worked well. Of course he did the back-heel for their goal but I have certainly enjoyed playing against him this year. I can't remember him contributing too much. It is good to play against players like that, this is a great league and I think he must be one of their best players.

Away from the pitch, you were recently involved in launching a government initiative to combat knife crime.
Coming from the background I did, I saw a lot of stuff when I was growing up and I stayed away from that and luckily I have got a football career. It is something in my heart that I think needs to be stopped and I know it is a cliché everyone is saying but it is not big to carry a knife. They seem to think they carry it for protection, but they pull it out and they could end up getting hurt as well as hurting someone else.

It has definitely changed from when I was young. It has got worse and we need to clean up the streets and maybe give young people more activities to do. Maybe the government can help a little bit and hopefully it could take them off the streets and into clubs and things like that.

Me and JT went to the launch and it was a great day. We met the kids, heard what their problems were or what they thought could be done and improved and hopefully that can be taken on board and a few things are changed.