Tamir Cohen, the Bolton Wanderers midfielder, has revealed the secret of his success this season — hard work.

Returning from international duty with Israel, Cohen is expected to start tomorrow’s match against defending champions Manchester United at Old Trafford. He is the team’s joint-top scorer this season with three goals.

The son of former Liverpool star Avi, Cohen said: “When I was a teenager, my father kept drumming into me that talent is not enough. You have to work very hard as well. I should have listened to him more. It’s taken me a long time to realise how right he is.

“I’ve always had high motivation but I’m feeling good about myself at the moment. I’m scoring and making goals and feeling that my talent is being realised.”

Ahead of Israel’s final World Cup match, with qualification out of their hands, Cohen said: “It’s not possible to put a finger on any one thing that has gone wrong. Things just didn’t work out.

“If we would have put away one of our chances early on against Latvia, things would have looked very different now. That’s football. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. We are determined, but beyond that we can’t promise anything.”