BLACKBURN beware of Andy Cole - once a goalscorer always a goalscorer. And the way he is playing at the moment, Cole will be confident of getting one over on his former employees at the City of Manchester Stadium tomorrow.

The reason I think Cole is still banging them in at the age of 34 is because of the way he approaches the game in general.

In the past a lot of people have had a problem with this.

Graeme Souness used to get frustrated at the laid back attitude Cole had as well as his apparent unwillingness to chase defenders and put tackles in.

But while that dispute might have led to the end of his career at Ewood, I have sympathy for Cole in that argument.

Basically - and I would say this, wouldn't I? - it's not a striker's job to defend.

Okay, it's great if you can get back and kick one off the line, but at the end of the day you're paid to be at the other end of the field, making sure the ball goes IN the net.

The classic example is Michael Owen. Against Argentina on Saturday I didn't even notice he was on the pitch until the last minute.

Then he pops up and scores two goals to win the game, so who cares if he didn't contribute that much to the team during the course of the game?

To be fair to Cole, when he was at Newcastle I think he was seen as just a goalscorer, then he had to expand his game when he was at Manchester United. Become more of a team player.

And while he's done this well, I still think he has prolonged his career by concentrating on the art of attacking.

I never used to be one of the best in training but on a Saturday I'd be guaranteed to work my hardest and do the job when it mattered.

So people should never have been offended by any apparent lack of enthusiasm or commitment from Cole.

In my view, it's why he's been able to keep going for as long as he has and why he's still a hot property in the Premiership.

Even Blackburn boss Mark Hughes, I remember reading somewhere, said he benefited from not having to defend as much.

It was when he went to Chelsea and Ruud Gullit told him to save his energy, so it's no wonder he was getting on for 40 and was still terrorising Premiership defences.

Age is no barrier - and I reckon Rovers will have to put up a pretty strong fight to stop Andy Cole tomorrow.