Bellamy was omitted from today's squad but the Hammers hardly noticed his absence as man of the match Carlton Cole spearheaded a 3-1 victory over Fulham.

Bellamy, 29, stormed out of training on Friday after he was denied permission to talk to Tottenham, while Manchester City are also reportedly interested in signing him.

Hammers fans made their thoughts on the matter known by chanting "Who needs Craig Bellamy" as Cole rifled in the third, but Zola remains an admirer.

However, the Italian admits Bellamy's future at Upton Park is uncertain and wants to act quickly with the transfer window having passed the halfway mark.

"Craig wasn't in the squad because he wasn't in the right frame of mind," he said.

"I don't know what will happen, I don't know if he's played his last game for the club.

"I respect him and his attitude to me has been great, he always gives me 100%. He knows I like him as a player.

"We'll see what to do over the next few days. I spoke to him yesterday and I stand by him.

"Craig is a player that I value very much but if he doesn't want to stay there's not much we can do about it.

"If he's sold I will get the money to spend on other players. We are looking at targets.

"It's important that the situation is dealt with as soon as possible. There's no deadline but I need to get on with my squad. It has to be quick because I need to sort out my squad."

David di Michele fired West Ham ahead after capitalising on an error by John Pantsil only for a magnificent 30-yard strike from Paul Konchesky to level the scores.

The Fulham left-back then hacked down Cole, allowing Mark Noble to score from the spot and Cole sealed the win 15 minutes from time.

West Ham's fourth successive victory over their London rivals lifted them to eighth in the Barclays Premier League table - and left Zola beaming with pride.

"Right now all I want to do is drink a big glass of red wine because we've been through such a difficult week," he said.

"This was a great result, a great performance. It would have been easy for us to fail today because there was a strange atmosphere at the stadium.

"During the week there was so much talk around us. It's been like this all year but this week I didn't have time to think about the game."

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson refused to grumble after his side's nine-match unbeaten run was ended in comprehensive fashion.

"I thought West Ham were the better team and deserved to win," he said.

"We underachieved, maybe because of the long break we've had to endure after our game last weekend was postponed.

"It seemed to be a disadvantage for us today because it took us a long time to play anything like the type of football we want to play.

"All three West Ham goals came from our mistakes but I wouldn't use that as an excuse - we deserved to lose."

Hodgson expects England midfielder Jimmy Bullard to return to training tomorrow after recovering from a hip injury.