Cole- No egos at Chelsea

It has been suggested the former Porto manager, who guided the Dragons to domestic and Europa League success last season, will find it difficult to command respect among the older squad members as the youngest boss in the Barclays Premier League, aged just 33.

However, England defender Cole, 30, feels Villas-Boas - no stranger to many players from his time at Stamford Bridge as a part of Jose Mourinho's backroom staff - will soon settle into his new role, telling Sky Sports News: "Whatever manager comes in we respect him, we are not kids, everyone thinks there are egos at Chelsea, but there aren't."

He added: "Age is just a number, he has experience of being at Porto, a big club.

"Hopefully he can bring that glory to Chelsea, but I don't think the age thing is anything to worry about, I don't think the players think about that. He is our manager now and we have to go out and fight for him.

"We have to make Chelsea the squad of a few years ago and win trophies."

Cole found himself in the front-page headlines earlier this year for an incident at the training ground when a work placement student was shot with an air rifle, while the relationship with his former wife Cheryl Cole continues to attract attention. The defender, however, will not let those issues see him lose focus.

"I have made mistakes and have just got to live with it," Cole added in an interview with BBC Sport.

"I just wish people would judge me more on football and speak about football more than a life that people don't really know."

Cole continued: "If someone had actually seen the [shooting] incident - you wouldn't laugh because it was a stupid thing to do - but the whole situation was crazy. Of course it was an accident. But like I say, you've just got to deal with it. I'm just here to play football. That's all I want to do."

Source: PA

Source: PA