It was great to be involved again in real football.

I think I forgot how much I missed it until I ran out against Brighton on Saturday.

It is a great feeling to run out over that white line and hear the noise and passion of the crowd.

From the moment I stepped out there, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

This move to Coventry has allowed me to play the sort of matches I have wanted to be involved in all season.

I am right back in the melting pot and it is a great feeling ? it has given me a new lease of life.

But when I came off after 80 minutes I was shattered. I haven?t started a game of football at this level for a few months and I really felt it.

By the end I was having cramps and all sorts, I?m glad I didn?t play the full 90 minutes ? I don?t think I would have lasted.

It was a funny sort of game and I don?t think I had one clear chance.

Brighton were a very physical team and played quite deep so it was difficult for us to get any service to our strikers. I don?t think either myself or fellow striker Gary McSheffrey got any real chances ? apart from the penalty he scored.

I suppose I would have liked to take the penalty, but when you are the new boy at a club you can?t just go and pick it up and put it on the spot.

If no one else had come forward, I probably would have done but I think two lads went for the ball so I just hung back.

It is good to see that. At this stage of the season you want players with the bottle to demand the ball for a penalty in a vital game like this.

There wasn?t a lot of football played but this game was all about which team was going to be more effective ? and it was us. It wasn?t a pretty performance but we got the three points and that is what it is all about.

But we can?t sit back, we?re out of the relegation places but only by one point ? which makes tomorrow?s game against Nottingham Forest really important.

They are a footballing side, so the game should be a lot more open than on Saturday.

It can often be difficult to play attractive football when your side?s at the wrong end of the table with so few matches left. It is all about grinding out results.

But hopefully the strikers can get a bit of service and a few chances can come our way.

We won the game, so I imagine the gaffer is going to stick with the same starting line-up ? and hopefully I will be able to get on the scoresheet this time.