Carlton Cole: 'Young players have it too easy nowadays'

West Ham United striker Carlton Cole believes that young players in the modern game do not have to work as hard as previous generations.

The former Chelsea forward made his professional debut aged 17 in 2001, and the Hammers man thinks that players coming through the ranks in 2013 take certain parts of the game "for granted".

"These kids need to know it's a job. Because they're rubbing shoulders with us they're taking it for granted," he told the Daily Mail.

"They get showered and leave their kit on the floor. There's a skip there to put the kit in but they're leaving it on the floor. I'm like, 'What?'. They're not respecting [the club].

"We try to talk to them, they don't listen. It should be a privilege for them to be around us really."

Cole has played for the Hammers since 2006.