“Carlton Cole should be shot. Worst player to ever wear the West Ham colours” - Never Say Die, Oct 6

“Carlton Cole deserves full praise for producing a performance like he did today despite the treatment he has been given. If we give him some real support, we might just find we have a real player on our hands” – clawhammer, Saturday

Carlton Cole tries the patience of West Ham United fans, but he is also trying his hardest. For the critics on internet messageboards such as these and those in the stands who have jeered him, trying is not enough. Cole knows it and it torments him.

“They have been on my back,” the striker said. “I got booed a lot. It hurts. It’s in my hands to try to get them on my side. I know when I get on I try my utmost. In the past, I’ve never been match fit and I’m trying to do something special. And if it didn’t work out I got stick. But I’m trying to establish myself as a proper player.”

Cole, nearly 24, began his career at Chelsea and scored in only his second match, in April 2002. But he went on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before signing permanently for West Ham in the summer of 2006. Since then he has made only 12 appearances.

“I’ve had people around me off the pitch. I train well,” he said. “I have got a sports psychologist. He is with me every day. He talks to me; he does a lot – mental things you don’t think about as a footballer. Some people have it naturally, some don’t.”

Given a chance because of his club’s injury problems, Cole scored against Sunderland last week and impressed against Portsmouth on Saturday, hitting the bar and leading the line with effort and strength.

Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, needs Cole, especially because Craig Bellamy has a chronic abdominal strain, which led Curbishley to substitute him at half-time at Fratton Park on Saturday. The forward may also have suffered from a sore throat.

Danny Gabbidon’s handball in the dying seconds gave Portsmouth the chance to pinch a win. Feeling confident, Benjani Mwaruwari took the ball from Niko Kranjcar, the nominated penalty-taker. Tony Adams, the Portsmouth assistant manager, said that he thought Sulley Muntari was going to take it because he’d scored one against Reading the week before, but this time Robert Green saved.

More fuel for the “Green for England” campaign? Not for Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager. “If Russia win in Israel, we might as well play Ray Clemence in goal,” he said.

Portsmouth (4-5-1): D James 6 – G Johnson 7, S Campbell 5, S Distin 6, H Hreidarsson 6 – J Utaka 6 (sub: Kanu, 77min), P Bouba Diop 6, P Mendes 5, S Muntari 6, N Kranjcar 6 – B Mwaruwari 5. Substitutes not used: J Ashdown, Lauren, M Taylor, N Pamarot. Booked:Bouba Diop, Hreidarsson. Next: Newcastle United (a).

West Ham United (4-3-3): R Green 8 – L Neill 7, D Gabbidon 4, M Upson 6, G McCartney 7 – N Solano 5 (sub: J Spector, 78), H Mullins 6, M Noble 5 – C Bellamy 4 (sub: M Etherington, 46 5), C Cole 8 (sub: A Ferdinand, 89), L Boa Morte 5. Substitutes not used: R Wright, H Camara. Booked: Bellamy, Cole, Noble, Solano. Next: Bolton Wanderers (h).