Daniel Sturridge has put holding down a place in the Chelsea side above selection for the full England squad as his main ambition for this season, whereas team-mate Ashley Cole backs the striker to represent his nation.
The players were speaking at Thursday evening's 'An Audience With…' event at Stamford Bridge. The two are very good friends, as demonstrated by a mix of complements, banter and teasing between them on the night but Cole did not hold back on praise when it came to describing his younger colleague's quality on the pitch.
'He [Sturridge] is one of the hardest guys to mark in training because of the speed he plays at,' said the left-back.
'He can go inside and outside and he is strong. He should have been in the last England squad and if he keeps doing what he is doing he will be in the squad for Euro 2012, no problem at all.'
'If England comes and I play for England then great,' stated Sturridge, 'but I am not really worried about playing for England, it is not something I am really stressing about. My main focus is to play for Chelsea every week and if I can do that then I am happy.
'It has been a long time I have been playing at Chelsea now and I have not been playing regularly so for me the most important thing is to be playing regularly.
'I could play a lot better than I am and I am getting used to the position out wide. I enjoy playing there.'
Sturridge has done well to make such an impact already this season, given that he missed the first three league game due to a red card suffered on loan at Bolton, a situation he deeply regretted, as he told the Chelsea fans present.
'I was absolutely devastated just sitting there watching and thinking if I was out there now maybe I could do something.
'It is the worse feeling in the world, watching when you could be out there.
'I did a stupid challenge [for the sending off] but I didn't go out there to hurt anyone and I am not the best tackler out there. I am never going to do a sliding tackle like that again, I don't know what went through my head.'
Sturridge in turn described Cole as the best left-back in the world and said: 'He has been there for me from day one at Chelsea and helped me through.'
Both talked about the highly competitive rivalry against one other on the Cobham pool table and the subject of winning was discussed.
'I just hate that feeling of coming off the pitch having lost,' said Cole.
'All my life I have tried to win things and battle against things and that losing feeling, I don't like it. I always want to win and it is a kind of a fear as well, it drives you on.'
'The will to win is the main motivating factor for any professional footballer,' agreed Sturridge. 'It is what keeps you going and it will never go away. It is not just football, it is everything from pool to table tennis.'
Asked the music they are listening to in their cars at the moment, the list included Lil Wayne, Jill Scott and Jay-Z, soon to be Cole's partner in a charity restaurant project.
The two also gave views on Chelsea considering the possibility of a larger capacity ground.
'As a club we do maybe need a bigger stadium because if you look at the biggest clubs in the Premier League and around the world, their stadiums are a bit bigger than Stamford Bridge,' said Sturridge.
'I am not disrespecting Stamford Bridge, it is a fantastic stadium and the atmosphere is unbelievable and that is because of the fans, and if we get more fans into the stadium then maybe it would be a good thing. But at the same time there is a lot of history at this stadium and fans have been coming here since before I was born, and I am not the person to say I think you should move away. The fans have a right to their opinion.
'I think maybe it is a step in the right direction. With a bigger stadium I think we would be a bigger and better club.'
'As a club of course you want to move to a bigger stadium because so many clubs now are getting bigger stadiums, more fans and this club is a big club,' said Cole.
'A lot of people love Chelsea around the world but if we want to improve and become even bigger then I think we do need to go to a bigger stadium. Of course people are going to miss Stamford Bridge but if we want to evolve I think it is a good move.
'We have to trust Roman [Abramovich]. He has put something like 800 million pounds in and if you see the training ground and what he has done there, if you look at the bigger picture you have to trust him.'
Looking not so far into the future, Cole declared what his main target is for the current season.
'I want to win the Premier League every season. I have been lucky to play in two Champions League Finals and to get to the final you don't have to be the best team, the further you get it can be the luck of the draw.
'But to win the Premier League you play tough teams week in week out and you can take nothing for granted. To be champions in England is a great achievement.
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