Ashley Cole collected a record-breaking fifth FA Cup winning medal and insisted the season has been his best ever.

Cole, named man of the match in the victory over Everton yesterday, struggled to find his best form when he arrived at Stamford Bridge from London rivals Arsenal in 2006.

A niggling ankle injury affected his form and the ability to make the kind of attacking runs on which he built his reputation at Arsenal.

Cole played through the World Cup in 2006 with the injury but he is delighted to be back to full fitness once again.

Surgery cured the ankle problem and a pain-free Cole has been in devastating form all season as a result.

He produced a stunning performance on the left flank against Everton, linking up superbly with Florent Malouda, to cause the Toffees all kinds of problems.

“I can run again because I have no pain in my ankle,” said Cole “I had an operation and they took a piece of my bone away that was floating in my ankle.

“I did it at Arsenal but I didn’t want to come to Chelsea and have the operation straight away. It did affect me and I shouldn’t have done it. There were times when I didn’t enjoy it.

“But I knew that once my ankle was better, I would be able to run. The manager (Jose Mourinho) wanted me to attack, but I couldn’t do it. I played in the World Cup with it and I just wanted the injury finished. Now I feel really fit.

“This season though has been the best I’ve had in the Premier League. Now I am playing with a smile on my face and as a player I think I’ve improved.”

Ricky Ponting had an injury scare in practice as England’s Ashes opponents began their preparation for the ICC World Twenty20.

Ponting was hit on the wrist by a cricket ball, struck by Michael Hussey, and required attention by team doctors in Nottingham.

The 34-year-old batsman sat out the rest of the net session but should return to action on Monday, when he is set to play in the warm-up match against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge.

An Australia team spokesman said: “He copped a whack on the wrist and had it iced for the rest of training.

“He’s fine though and he’ll be back tomorrow. There was no need to have an x-ray.”

Justin Langer warned England not to get carried away by their recent victories over the West Indies as they head into the Ashes.

But the former Australian opener did back England to make it a close series and he has been impressed by the leadership of Andrew Strauss since his ex-Middlesex colleague took over the reins at a difficult time.

England beat the West Indies 2-0 in the Test series and also claimed the one-day series against a touring side who barely put up a fight.

“Strauss’ leadership has been excellent”

The West Indies had been late replacements for Sri Lanka and captain Chris Gayle set the tone by making it clear he would have rather been playing in the Indian Premier League.

Langer told Sportsweek on Radio Five Live: “I wouldn’t be jumping up and down too much about their (England’s) performance against the West Indies.

“West Indies were a poor side. They looked a disorganised side but England will go with some confidence into the series. You still have to win.

“Andrew Strauss has been fantastic and his leadership has been excellent, not only tactically on the field but he is playing really well himself.”

Langer warned England that Australia will be a far sterner challenge even though they are going through a rebuilding period having lost the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.

“They are big names but I think one of the strengths of Australian cricket has been its great depth,” he said.

“You only have to look at a guy like Phillip Hughes who has come onto the scene and made a massive impact. He made a hundred in both innings of his second Test match against arguably the best fast bowling attack in the world (in South Africa).

“There are plenty of good players around and you can expect a well prepared side. They will be very competitive.

“Australian cricket has proven for well over a decade how strong they are. They in a a transition period but they (England) are in for a tough assignment.

“I think it will be close. Australia come over with a lot less experience than they have before.

“It is always hard playing over here and it is particularly hard to bat over here in Test cricket. Australia’s batsmen have to be up for the challenge and if they are I think they will win the series.”

Michael Clarke has warned England fans they could be in for a surprise if they think the Australia squad is a weak one.

Clarke said England fans could be in for a surprise if they think the Australia squad seeking to retain the Ashes later this summer is weaker than the one that won them.

“We may surprise a few English fans”

Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist have all retired since Australia beat England 5-0 to regain the Ashes in Australia but Clarke is quietly confident about the quality of the current touring party.

Clarke, speaking ahead of the ICC World Twenty20, said: “The English public will make their own decision (about the strength of the Australia squad).

“For us, if we play the type of cricket we know we can, I think we might surprise a few English fans.”

Clarke does not accept Australia, with a recent Test victory in South Africa under their belts, can be described as a team in transition.

“It’s been a long time now to be honest, the likes of Warne and McGrath haven’t been playing now for nearly two years now.

“I think we as a team are well and truly beyond that, those guys will always be remembered as greats of the game and we’ll never be able to replace those guys.

“But it gives new guys an opportunity to come in and play the way they play. The guys that had their opportunity in South Africa made the most of their chance. Hopefully they will be as successful in England.”

“We’re not thinking too much about Ashes”

Although the five-Test Ashes series is looming, Clarke insists it is very much on the back burner for the time being as Australia seek success in the shorter format of the game.

“We’re not thinking too much about the Ashes,” he stressed. “It’s important that we stay focused on the ICC World Twenty20.

“I’ll prepare for the Ashes in three weeks’ time hopefully when we win the final of this tournament. That is our number one focus at the moment. We want to make sure we are playing good Twenty20 cricket and do as well in a format that we haven’t been as successful at as we would have liked.

“We are very confident as we played really good cricket in South Africa in the Test format. And we’ve just come off a win in Dubai and Abu Dhabi against Pakistan in the one-day format so our guys have played enough cricket, no matter what format of the game.

“It’s just about making sure we are confident going into our first Twenty20 game so our preparation over the next seven days is very important.

“We’re very keen to win this. We have a lot more experience over the last 12 months with guys playing IPL and Twenty20 coming more into the game.

“We have a very good squad that can adapt to all conditions so we will see how we go but we are really looking forward to performing in this tournament.”

“Ricky has always been a great leader”

Clarke, who is now the regular stand-in captain whenever Ricky Ponting is rested, is in no rush to tackle that job full-time.

“I’m definitely not ready right now,” he insisted. “The captain we have got is amazing. Ricky has always been a great leader. Not only is he an amazing cricketer but the way he has led this team for such a long time is unbelievable.

“There are not too many players around the world who are not only as good a player as him but as good a leader.

“For me I hope he captains until the end of my career, I think he has got a long time yet in his career in all forms of the game.

“For me as vice-captain it gives me an opportunity to get as close as I can to him and learn as much as I can from him.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has blamed his side’s poor defending as key to their 2-0 Champions League final loss to Barcelona.

Goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi gave the Spanish side their third Champions Cup and stopped United from becoming the first club to retain the trophy in its current format.

But it was the first goal after nine minutes when Eto’o was allowed to turn inside Nemanja Vidic and plant a right-foot shot past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar which angered Ferguson in particular.

Ferguson said: “In our best performances this season we have defended very well, but the defending tonight was shoddy.

“The first goal didn’t help. It gave them the opportunity to keep possession. We didn’t plan to lose a goal early and we didn’t deal with it well enough. That was the story. To lose a goal like that was a bad goal. It was a disappointing performance and some individuals will feel it themselves.”

Ferguson threw on Carlos Tevez for Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov for Ji-Sung Park in a bid to turn around the match in the second-half but United’s hopes were shattered when Xavi Hernandez crossed for Messi to send a looping header beyond the reach of Van der Sar for his ninth goal in the competition this season.

Xavi also struck a post and Thierry Henry and Carles Puyol brought fine saves from Van der Sar as Barcelona ran out convincing winners.

Ferguson claimed he was not surprised with the way Barcelona approached the game, even when they swapped Messi from a wide position up front into midfield.

And he put the blame for the loss squarely on his own players.

Ferguson said: “The disappointment was the use of the ball when we got possession. You have to wait minutes to get it back off them. Could be it was an off night. Could be it was a mountain too big to climb.

“We knew what a good football team they were. We had difficulty in defending against them. Messi dropped into midfield and they kept possession and made it difficult for us.”

Cristiano Ronaldo collected a yellow card for a foul on Puyol and it was a disappointing match for the United winger who went close with a couple of long-range shots but too often let his exasperation get the better of him.

Ferguson also admitted United missed the protective presence of Darren Fletcher in midfield who was suspended after being sent off harshly against Arsenal in the semi-final.

“He is one big-game player,” said Ferguson. “It was a loss but they had losses also. And it is difficult to measure how big a loss it was.

“We’ve done well to get to the final, but we had to win it. It was a big opportunity for us. With the players we have we expected better, but losing the first goal was decisive for us. We couldn’t recover from that.”

Ferguson, however, was generous in his praise of Barcelona and their manager, Pep Guardiola, who also won the Champions League as a player with Barcelona.

“You have to give credit to a very good Barcelona team,” said Ferguson. “If they get in front of you they are very difficult to beat. They kept possession of the ball and made it very difficult to get back.

“When we did get possession we didn’t do well with it. Credit to them, the better team won.”

On Guardiola, who has guided Barcelona to a treble of league title, domestic Cup and Champions League, he added: “It is a great achievement as a coach in his first year. Well done. Fantastic. Everybody enjoys their football and it is great credit to him.”

Guardiola, who becomes the first man to win the Champions Cup as a player and a manager with the same club, said: “I am very happy, very excited. We have done something magnificent. We attacked, we defended and we won. We are are the best team in the world. We wanted to say we played and were not cowards and the players have done a great job.”

The Barcelona boss also insisted Messi had proved he was the best footballer in the world for a goal-scoring performance which eclipsed Ronaldo.

Guardiola said: “Even if we had lost it wouldn’t have changed my opinion. I think he is the best player and he should add his name to the gold ball (world player of the year). We didn’t need to win to know he is the best.

“Messi has a talent and he will never hide. When the going gets tough he really starts moving.”

Guardiola also explained why he withdrew Messi from a forward position into midfield, a tactic which wrested control of the match.

“”We didn’t expect Manchester United to press so high,” said Guardiola. “We had problems with our build-up and I saw Messi had problems and that’s why I put him in midfield.

“They tried to keep the ball with Vidic and Ferdinand and Michael Carrick but we controlled things very well. The most important thing was that when we attacked our defence paid attention to Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov in the second half.”

Guardiola dedicated the win to his big pal, AC Milan’s recently retired Paolo Maldini, saying: “He’s the best European player of the last 20 years, at least in defence.”

Sir Alex Ferguson is trusting the players of Man United and Barcelona to put on a show to remember in Rome.

Ferguson’s two previous Champions League wins have come attached with a heavy dose of nostalgia given that miraculous comeback in the Nou Camp in 1999 came on what would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday.

Last season in Moscow, United produced the most fitting tribute to the 50th anniversary of the air crash at Munich by lifting European football’s biggest club prize once more.

There are other reasons to crave a win this time around, Busby’s 100th birthday yesterday for a start.

Yet Ferguson is ready to let his players do the work themselves, knowing if the powerhouses of England and Spain fulfil their immense potential, it could be an all-time classic.

“You had a feeling that night in Barcelona and obviously there was fate attached to last year as well,” said the United boss.

“That happens. But I think this type of game might be beyond fate.

“It has the capability to be a fantastic final.”

Merely by electing to wear white shirts, Ferguson had to answer comparisons with the last team to face Barcelona facing such a colour, Real Madrid, who were promptly beaten 6-2 in their own Bernabeu backyard.

“That wasn’t a defeat, it was annihilation,” said Ferguson, before adding pointedly: “We are very happy playing white and we are better than Madrid!”

United have proved their strengths at home and abroad all season.

Their performances may have been lacking some of the sparkle from 12 months ago. But they have developed a tenacity and refusal to yield that might well come in handy tomorrow if they find themselves in the rare position of facing opponents who dominate possession.

“Neither team will want to give the ball away,” he said. “That will make it a very interesting game.

“What we do with it compared to our opponents and how long we can keep it will be the deciding factor.”

Before the 1999 epic, Ferguson famously warned his players not to leave themselves in the position of being able to see the most prestigious of trophies without being able to touch it.

The Scot is searching for similar inspiring words of wisdom, although so far they have proved elusive.

“These things usually happen to me about three in the morning when I am trying to get some inspiration from the deep chambers of my tiny little brain,” he said. “But at the moment nothing is coming out.”

Even at 67 it seems Ferguson is not beyond a sleepless night or two.

The truth is the enormity of what United can achieve in this most historic of cities should inspire all his players.

Title winners three times in succession, the Red Devils are bidding to add back-to-back European Cups.

No side has achieved it since the tournament was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.

“I cannot explain why it hasn’t been done,” he said.

“In the history of the European Cup it was done regularly. Some won it two or three times in a row. There were cycles of teams winning it like Ajax, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

“Now we have an opportunity to change that and hopefully we can take it.”

By changing it, United would get themselves a label any side would want. The label of being great.

It is not a discussion even the most aware of individuals like Rio Ferdinand wants to have, knowing talk can be cheap at this rarefied level of the game.

But if United win tomorrow, they will earn a place in history no-one will be able to erase.

“There have been a lot of unlucky teams in world football but when you look at the pantheon of great teams you need to have won the European Cup to have that tag,” said Ferguson.

“There is no question about that. It has always been that way.

“Teams like Manchester United and Barcelona have to win the trophy to be regarded in that respect.”

Bangalore team management will decide whether Anil Kumble or Kevin Pietersen will captain the side in Champions League.

Under leg-spinner Kumble’s leadership, the Royal Challengers Bangalore reached the IPL final where they eventually lost to Deccan Chargers by six runs.

Pietersen was named captain for the first six matches, while Jacques Kallis was tipped to take over when the former England skipper left for the Test series against the West Indies.

Batsman Pietersen presided over four defeats in the first six matches until Kumble, who was unexpectedly handed the captaincy, effected a turnaround.

The run helped the team qualify for the inaugural Champions League which will be held in India from October 8 to 23.

“In terms of team composition for the Champions League we will work on that and choose the best combination,” Kumble said.

“I think everyone would be available for the tournament because there isn’t any international cricket scheduled during that time.

“Kevin (Pietersen) would be back and we would have to make a call on who would be captain because he was announced the Royal Challengers’ captain.”

The Champions League features 12 teams - the top three from the IPL, the top two domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England, Australia and the one team each from New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Jumbo all geared up

Kumble, who returned to his hometown Bangalore on Tuesday, acknowledged that the conditions in South Africa had played a major part in the team’s performance, but believed he was prepared for the challenge the Champions League offered.

“The wickets in South Africa played a huge role not only because it assisted spin, but also because it brought out the best in the experienced players,” he said.

“But the Champions League will be staged in India and the challenges will be different.

“There is pressure in every game and in international cricket you deal with pressure day in and day out whether you are playing at home or abroad.

“There’s still four months to go and there’s a lot of international cricket before that.

“As for me, I’m looking forward to a break and will start training just before the tournament.”

Jordi Cruyff is convinced Sir Alex Ferguson has a surprise up his sleeve for the Champions League final against Barcelona.

The former Manchester United forward, who progressed through the ranks at Barca, spent four years at Old Trafford, where Ferguson’s cunning impressed him.

And he has warned the Primera Division champions to expect the unexpected.

“Like the old fox that he is, he will have a surprise prepared to beat Barca,” Cruyff told RAC1. “In my time at Old Trafford he used to make incredible decisions and if he used an unexpected player he would usually get it right.

“He is unpredictable, but his gambles almost always work out.”

Much has been made of the so-called ‘dream final’ with Barca seeking an unprecedented treble, while United are looking to become the first team to retain the Champions League.

Seydou Keita believes that while there might not be a favourite, Barca will have the backing of most of the world and he has urged his team-mates to do their best to cap an incredible season.

“The season has been very good,” he told El Mundo. “But there’s still a small step remaining,

“We have to win. Spain, Catalunya, Barcelona, the whole world, will be very happy if we achieve it.”