Ashley Cole: People want me to "fail"

Chelsea defender Ashley Cole has claimed that people want to see him "fail" in his quest to be part of England's World Cup squad.

Cole, who has over 100 caps for the Three Lions, has fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, with Cesar Azpilicueta often preferred by Jose Mourinho.

Everton's Leighton Baines has also replaced Cole in the national team, and the former Arsenal defender thinks that a lot of people wanted to see him fall short in his bid to be part of the 23-man squad for Brazil.

Cole told beIN Sports: "There was probably a lot of pressure on me to fight for my England spot. Maybe not just my starting spot even - just to get on the plane. I think everyone wanted me to fail, to be honest.

"I think real football fans understand what I bring to a team and what I give to a team and if I do make it on the plane hopefully people can see that. But ultimately most people wanted me to fail in Madrid last week, for sure. Maybe people have seen me play for 13 years for my country and have probably had enough of it.

"You look at the players and you have Baines who is playing brilliant and young Luke Shaw who has done amazing this season so I don't blame them, they've got reasons to, but like I said in my Nike ad - I'm not done yet."

Cole was part of the Chelsea side that beat Liverpool 2-0 on Sunday.