Rocket for Cole

Nick of time: Ashley Cole celebrates his late winner

14 April 2012

Ashley Cole revealed today that regular verbal batterings from team-mates inspired him to save Arsenal's Champions League campaign.

Cole struck with a vital diving header just two minutes from time against Dynamo Kiev last night to break the deadlock and keep alive Arsenal's hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

Realistically, the Gunners still have to win both their remaining games as they are bottom of Group B and Cole admitted there was a real sense of relief in the team at the result.

He said: "The lads had battered me for not scoring before. I have had a few chances to score this season but I've fluffed them. In training I'm always taking free-kicks and missing, so the lads just told me to stay at the back.

"But I think they are happy I went up. I started out as a striker when I was a kid but just got pushed back into defence as I went on. I had to prove people wrong and show that it is not just Thierry Henry who scores. He was happy for me and it took some of the burden off his shoulders.

"He's a great striker and always wants to score but it's nice if other people can help him out. Before the game, as a team, we said to each other that we had to win the next three games.

"The luck hasn't gone our way in the Champions League and it has been hard for us. We couldn't put our finger on what was going wrong but we knew this game was the one in which we could show people that we can go far in the competition.

"This result meant a lot to me and to the other players. I was an Arsenal fan as a kid and it means everything to me, my family and girlfriend. We proved that we have the team spirit we need and the longer the game went on, the more we thought we could score. There is a sense of relief about the place now.

"We knew we had to get three points and now we know have to win the next two games to go through. It was a great team performance and we defended well as a unit."

Cole believes Arsenal can beat group leaders Inter in Milan. He added: "They played brilliantly at Highbury but we've played against Manchester United and I think they are a better side than Inter. It will be tough but we know we have to get a result."

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