Fabio Capello is considering including Carlton Cole in his England squad for the friendly international against Spain in Seville on February 11. The West Ham United striker would be a surprise call-up because he has not come close to featuring in the senior squad under the past three managers and appeared to have stagnated since making the last of his 19 appearances for the under-21 side four years ago.

A key tenet of Capello’s managerial philosophy is to focus on the players who are fit and in form, however, with Cole certainly falling into that category. The 25-year-old has scored five goals in as many matches to help to take West Ham up to eighth in the Barclays Premier League.

Capello has reservations about Cole’s technical skills at the highest level, with particular doubts over the quality of his finishing, but has been impressed by his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play. The Italian names his squad on February 7 and could give Cole the opportunity to win his first cap four days later.

In an ideal world Capello would name two physically imposing strikers, such as Emile Heskey, and two nippier ones — in the style of Jermain Defoe — in his 23-man squad, but he is still looking for back-up to the Wigan Athletic forward. Peter Crouch replaced the injured Heskey in England’s most recent match, against Germany in Berlin last November, but appeared only as a last-minute substitute and he has yet to fully convince Capello of his merits, despite scoring regularly for Portsmouth this season.

Cole has improved dramatically since Gianfranco Zola took over as West Ham manager in September, with the Sardinian tipping his former Chelsea team-mate for international honours after handing him a new four-year contract in November.

Wayne Rooney is an automatic selection if he recovers from his hamstring injury, but if the Manchester United forward fails to make it, Capello has several options. Gabriel Agbonlahor did enough on his debut in Berlin to be given another chance, while, to the surprise of many, Defoe remains ahead of Michael Owen in the pecking order. Capello went to watch Owen in Newcastle United’s 3-0 defeat by Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park last weekend, but the visiting team were so poor that he had little opportunity to impress.

Capello has also noted Phil Jagielka’s outstanding club performances and he is pushing hard for a call-up at the expense of Joleon Lescott, his Everton team-mate. Both players could be named in the squad if Rio Ferdinand’s back problems persist because Curtis Davies and Michael Mancienne are likely to be dispensed with after being non-playing substitutes against Germany.