Chelsea ready to give Cole his chance

Ranieri may hand teenager Cup final opportunity after remarkable season of scoring exploits for junior teams

Carlton Cole, Chelsea's prolific teenage striker, could see a remarkable season capped with an appearance in Saturday's FA Cup final against Arsenal in Cardiff. The 18-year-old has scored 35 times for his club's junior sides this season and scored for the senior side against Middlesbrough last weekend in only his second Premiership appearance.

With the Finnish forward, Mikael Forsell, suffering from a knee problem, and persistent doubts over the fitness of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Chelsea's manager, Claudio Ranieri, wants extra cover up front and Cole is understood to be a certainty for a place in the squad to face the Gunners.

Ranieri still expects Hasselbaink, who has had a calf problem and was able to do only light training yesterday, to at least start the game. The Italian should also be able to call on the services of the injured Graeme Le Saux, who said yesterday he was confident of recovering from his own calf strain. "Everything's gone better than expected and I am delighted with my recovery," the former England defender said.

Ranieri took time out from his FA Cup preparations yesterday to voice his hopes for the future. "Arsenal are the best team in the country, the table says so," he said. "I admire that and the way Arsène Wenger has worked with them over a long time. Now we want to work together for a long time at Chelsea. We have good players and I think we can do the same as Arsenal. We want to fight for the title and go into the Champions' League. We want to be the best team in England and perform well in Europe."

Ranieri said he was not disappointed with Chelsea's season, despite failing in his stated aim to win a place in next season's Champions' League. "It's fantastic for Chelsea to be in the FA Cup final, it shows we are building something. We changed a lot of players last year, with [Gustavo] Poyet and [Frank] Leboeuf and [Dennis] Wise leaving and Emmanuel Petit coming in and young players coming through.

"Our target this season was not only the Champions' League but also to improve. And we have improved. We have conceded fewer goals than last season. At home we have more or less the same points as Arsenal and Manchester United but not away. My target for next season is to improve away."

Richard Wright's position as Arsenal's FA Cup goalkeeper could come to an end in Saturday's final, Wenger hinted yesterday.

Although the £6m close-season signing from Ipswich Town has played in every match bar the third-round tie at Watford, the Gunners' manager insisted that he would not flinch at leaving out a man whose Premiership appearances have been restricted by the in-form David Seaman.

"I will pick the team that I think has the biggest chance to win the trophy," Wenger said. "Maybe Richard will play. I just don't know yet. He had a difficult start to the season and when I decided to push Seaman into the team I felt Wright deserved a chance to restore his image in the FA Cup. I have a very high opinion of him now because he managed to do that very well."

Wenger added that Thierry Henry and Sol Campbell would be fit to start in Cardiff. Henry missed Monday's 2-0 win at Bolton with a slight hamstring strain, but Wenger believes the rest will have done him good. "Thierry has been a huge, huge player for us this season and I believe he can come back even stronger for the final," he said. Campbell came on as a late substitute at the Reebok Stadium.

The Arsenal manager also responded to the comments made by Sir Alex Ferguson, in the wake of Manchester United's European Cup exit, that the reigning champions have been England's best footballing side this season. "In the European Cup it's not arguable because they were the only ones in the semi-final, but in the championship and the FA Cup it has been Arsenal," Wenger said.