City spent ?5 million yesterday on a new striker in the form of Preston's Jonathan Macken.

But while some people might think I might be worried about my place in the team I can quash that rumour before it gets started.

As far as I am concerned I think it is good business. It adds competition and should bring the best out of every player.

I am the type of person who thrives on competition as I don't like to get too comfortable and so I am hoping his inclusion will be good for me.

It was a necessary buy because Paulo Wanchope is struggling with a knee injury and we are not sure how that is going to be in the next few days or weeks.

With the climax of the season approaching it is a vital period and so I wasn't surprised we added to the squad, especially after releasing Paul Dickov to Leicester City recently.

Although I knew Paul was not going to be around Maine Road much longer because he wasn't figuring in the manager's plans, I did not really know about who we might try and replace him with.

Unlike some people might think we do not get to hear about every development at the club.

We are like most fans, the club are not going to tell us they are interested in a particular player.

On the odd occasion, we might hear a player is arriving tomorrow or in a few days but we don't get advance notice. So, like our fans, it was news to me yesterday as well.

In fact, we actually read in the newspapers a few weeks ago that Jonathan was being targeted but it seemed to have died off.

As far as the player himself is concerned I think he is quality. He is good with his back to goal and holds the ball up well and he also scores one or two great goals.

One of those actually came against us earlier this season when he scored from about the halfway line!

I can understand the gaffer going in early for him, because if we get promoted to the Premiership then his club might automatically put another million or two on the price tag.

So no, as I said, I welcome Jonathan's arrival and what's more I wouldn't be surprised if we were busy again in the summer buying another striker because the manager is the sort of person who thinks of the long term.

As far I am concerned, my 29 goals have been weighing heavily on my mind in the past couple of games.

I have been putting added pressure on myself to get to 30 because that would represent the most goals I had scored in a season.

The fans could have easily turned against me against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek. I had a number of chances but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net.

But they stood by me and it got to the stage where I didn't want to leave the field without scoring.

It was an emotional time and I was pleased that with two minutes to go I did score to make the result 4-0. We won 4-1 on Sunday against Coventry but I wasn't among the scorers and I have put that performance and the one a few days earlier down to the way I have been approaching the games recently.

My aim normally is achieve certain aims within a game that entitle me at the end of it to say, yes, I have had a good match.

What I mean is that I try to get hold of the ball a certain number of times, get down the side of defenders, keep good possession, win flick-ons, get a certain amount of shots on target - all these things will then add up to a good game.

If I achieve those aims I will come off having played well, first and foremost, and secondly probably having scored.

In the last two games I have not set out to reach those goals. I have lost my focus in other words because I have been concentrating on equalling and bettering my target of 29. It was brought home to me when I came off the field yesterday and Paulo said 'You seem as if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders'.

I was glad he saw that because it showed that I am giving off that impression. I was pleased because it meant other people were seeing that and were not just thinking 'Oh, he is having an off game'.

Now it's case of getting back to basics. I have to refocus, get my mindset right and know that if I do I'll be back to my old self.

That begins tonight when we travel to Birmingham City and I'll have the chance to put what I have just said into practice.