MATTHEW Upson has revealed how Gianfranco Zola's passing approach has helped the defender establish a place in the England team.

The centre-back has missed just one league game since the Hammers boss arrival and in doing so he has caught the eye of England manager Fabio Capello.

Former Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough once said: "If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there."

This is a philosophy Zola and his assistant Steve Clarke share at West Ham.

Speaking ahead of England's game against Andorra, Upson said: "At international level it is important to be able to play with the ball. He works on that a lot and I have been trying to improve that every day. He and Clarke have drilled that into to us.

"Any transitional period is difficult and the results weren't very clever when he first came in. We tried a different system - he had to change a lot of things.

"But he stuck with it and came through in the end and I think we finished the season very positively with his squad and team, despite having a few injuries."

Upson hopes West Ham can build on their seventh place finish last season and hopes the Hammers can hang onto Zola.

He said: "It would be really nice to build on that. We have got the right man in charge. The manager has done an excellent job and it would be nice to see the new owners spending money and taking the team on.

"You can't stand still anymore. It's a very important period for the club. The manager has shown we've got something to offer but we have to build and improve the squad so it's a crucial time."