West Ham win as Bellamy gets set to quit

Bellamy missed yesterday's 3-1 win over Fulham, fuelling speculation he was set to quit the club.

Zola, who kept the press waiting for an hour after the game, admitted he was powerless to stop the 29-year-old from leaving but was still hoping he would stay.

He said: "He [Bellamy] wasn't on the bench because I didn't put him in the squad.

"I didn't think he was in the right frame of mind. That's it. The situation is as simple as that.

"He wasn't involved but fortunately the players that played played out of their skins and played a fantastic match.

"The player has expressed his wishes and I respect his wishes. For me, as far as I am concerned every time he played, he played [to his maximum].

"Sometimes he played with some small injuries and gave 100 per cent. I stand by him. I can't go over that. That's beyond my powers."

With just two weeks left in the transfer window the Hammers will need to ship Bellamy out as soon as possible so they give themselves as much time as possible to find a replacement.

"The situation has to be dealt with as soon as possible," said Zola.

"I didn't set a deadline but it has to be done as soon as possible because I need to get on with my squad and I need to know where I have to go to. I need to work out how we can solve this situation. It has to be quick."

And the Italian confirmed any profits from Bellamy's sale would be used to strengthen the squad. If he does join City for the fee reported it would represent a £6.5million profit on the player, who arrived at Upton Park for a club record £7.5million in July 2007.

On the pitch the Irons put all the uncertainty behind them to produce a fine display to brush past Fulham, although they were helped by a couple of old boys.

John Pantsil, who moved across London last summer, made a hash of controlling Lucas Neill's cross from the right, allowing David Di Michele to nip in and slot past Mark Schwarzer after just seven minutes.

The scores were levelled in the 22nd minute when another ex-Hammer, Paul Konchesky, was allowed to carry the ball forward before unleashing a fulminating drive from 35 yards that beat Rob Green all ends up.

West Ham were still enjoying the better possession than their West London neighbours but it took them until the 59th minute to make it count.

Konchesky turned from hero to villain as he dwelt too long on the ball midway inside his own half and was robbed by the impressive Carlton Cole.

The big striker bore down on goal and was fouled from behind as he entered the penalty area, giving referee Phil Dowd no option but to award a penalty.

Konchesky was perhaps lucky to escape with a yellow card but sufficient punishment was dealt out when Mark Noble stepped up to blast the ball home from the spot.

Cole capped a fine afternoon when he finished off a flowing move involving Jack Collison and Di Michele to slide the ball past Schwarzer on 76 minutes for his fifth goal in as many games.

Zola paid tribute to Cole, who would have impressed watching England manager Fabio Capello with his all-round display.

He said: "Remember what I said about Carlton Cole at the beginning and I wasn't a fool when I said that.

"I knew the potential of the player because I can recognise a player. The difference between us and them was definitely Carlton Cole. He made it happen. In the second half he changed the game around.

"Although I have to say he was supported by ten other fantastic players.

"The whole team looked very, very comfortable on the pitch. They are playing as a team. Within the team there are always one or two individuals who change the game and (on Sunday) it was Carlton Cole.

"I'm proud to say that it was not only [on Sunday], it has been in the last four or five games that he has made a difference.

"I'm pleased. I'm pleased for him because in every training session we are working out new ways to improve him and his attitude towards our exercises is excellent and it's making a difference right now."

West Ham: Green, Neill, Ilunga, Parker, Upson, Collins, Collison (Mullins, 83), Noble (Faubert, 81), Behrami, Cole, Di Michele (Dyer, 87). Unused subs: Stech, Boa Morte, Tristan, Sears.

Booked: Behrami

Goals: Di Michele 7, Noble (pen) 59, Cole 76.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Konchesky, Hangeland, Hughes, Murphy, Etuhu (Andreasen, 84), Davies (Gera, 74), Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora (Nevland, 72). Unused subs: Zuberbuhler, Gray, Kallio, Baird.

Booked: Konchesky, Pantsil, Davies.

Goals: Konchesky 22.

Referee: Phil Dowd

Attendance: 31,818