Shaun Goater dedicated his 30th goal of the season to the Manchester City fans who have stuck by him through thick and thin.

The 32-year-old Bermudian could became only the fourth Blues player in 60 years to reach that magical scoring milestone and surpassed his best ever total on English soil in the process when he netted the third in City's 3-1 win over Crewe on Tuesday.

"What can one say about our supporters that hasn't been said before?" he said in the Manchester Evening News. "I wanted to shake the hand of every single one of them and thank them for lifting me when things have not been going so well.

"It was almost a spiritual feeling. I felt so at one with them and so happy that I could have just walked out of the ground with them at the end of the game.

"Unless you have experienced thousands of people chanting your name then it is very difficult to describe how it makes you feel. I thought I felt great when we won promotion two years ago but the reaction of the fans last night at Crewe made me feel even better and I didn't think that was possible."

Goater had gone more than five hours without a goal and he admitted in his On the Ball column it had bothered him.

"It seemed an age between the goal against Sheffield Wednesday which took me to 29," he confessed. "Having got stuck on that figure two years ago it had been going through my mind that I might not reach 30 and with the gaffer bringing in Jon Macken there was extra pressure.

"I knew that Francis Lee had been the last player to reach that mark for City and that it was 30 years ago because the lads kept telling me.

"Hopefully my playing days will be remembered with the same kind of affection that his are but I also hope I haven't finished scoring for the season yet."

Goater also acknowledged the part boss Kevin Keegan has played in backing him over the past few weeks.

"I had hit a stumbling block in the last four or five games and missed a lot of opportunities but he has stuck by me and that gives a player confidence," he said. And Keegan was also quick with his praise of the striker, before setting him the task of scoring even more goals.

"Shaun Goater has waited a while for that one and I am sure there is still more to come. He has had a struggle getting to 30 but now he has reached that figure he has now got to look ahead," he said.