It didn?t even occur to me until afterwards that Saturday?s late equaliser in my first match for Southend was my 250th career goal.

A reporter reminded me of it on the way out of the ground. Until then I was just pleased to have scored for my new team and helped us get a result.

It?s great to have got 250 though, especially as it?s been such a long time since I scored my last one ? probably about a year.

I spoke to the gaffer on Thursday and said that I would be able to play a part in the game if he wanted to use me, although I knew that I couldn?t manage a whole game or even really a half. I didn?t want to over-stretch myself and get injured again.

I said that if he wanted me for ten or 15 minutes or so I would be ready to go.

So the gaffer put me on with about 15 minutes left and I was fortunate enough to get a chance.

It was my first chance of the game, it was a great cross and I got above the defender to head it home. It was a great feeling to score again after all this time, especially as it changed the result ? although we needed a world-class save after that from our ?keeper to save the point.

My aim when I went on was just to change the game by creating more chances for us and try and get some of the momentum going our way and obviously I did that with my goal.

It meant a lot to me, because two months ago I was thinking about quitting the game and then I made the decision to keep playing.

And I feel it is the right decision for me. I would have regretted it if I had walked away and not played another season. I feel like things are going to work out for me here at Southend.

It is a great club and I feel part of it already and the fans have been great.

They were singing my song before the game, every time I warmed up, at half-time when I went on the field for a kick about, when I came on and then, of course, when I scored.

They had the tune right, they had the tempo right, they had it all perfect ? and it was great to hear that again.

It?s nice to hear them all chanting your name and I hope to keep giving them reasons to do it.

I?ve said all along that I wanted to earn the right to hear that song and I will need plenty more goals this season to really earn it, although I was pleased with the reception I got.

I reckon we had about 1,000 or 1,500 coming up to Walsall and that?s not a bad travelling crowd at this level.

Although I have dropped a division, there isn?t much difference in the standard.

There are some pretty good players in this league. I was being marked by Steve Staunton when I was on, and there are a few players like him around at the various clubs.

The passing was pretty quick and although there are probably going to be some games this year that are going to be like pinball, there are going to be plenty which are the same standard as the division above.

Because it was my first game back, I found the going pretty tough and I was real tired after my 15 minutes ? I?m glad the gaffer didn?t have me on any longer.

I will probably be coming on from the bench again this week (home to Huddersfield) but hopefully after that I would have had another ten days or so of full training behind me and I will be ready to go from the first whistle.