Cole hoping Tottenham leave Defoe out in the cold

Joe Cole is hoping he doesn’t come face-to-face with an old mate this weekend.

The fit-again former England midfielder will be in the West Ham squad that travels to Tottenham on Sunday, where he could line up against his old Hammers team-mate, Jermain Defoe.

Defoe took his season’s tally to seven goals on Thursday night when he scored the opening goal in Tottenham's 2-0 win over Anzhi Makhachkala, but he has has played just 50 minutes of Premier League football so far this term with Andre Villas-Boas preferring £26million signing Roberto Soldado up front.

Cole and Defoe spent four years together at Upton Park, where the striker scored 41 goals in five years, and the 31-year-old midfielder is afraid his former team-mate will come back to haunt his old team this weekend.

"Tottenham have brought in some good players but personally, I'll be glad if my old West Ham and England team-mate Jermain Defoe's name is not on their team sheet on Sunday," said Cole, in an interview with West Ham TV.

"He seems to have scored every time he has played this season and we all know what he can do.

"If you give him a chance he can hurt you, so I think he's probably impressed me the most of Tottenham's players.

"We've got to stop him from scoring this weekend, but Jermain will be eager to impress.

"He wants to get back into the England squad and he'll be right up for it against his old club.

"We'll need to be right on it, so I'll be happy if he is not playing against us."