It was great to get the win again and stay at the top of the table.

We?d gone three games without and I wouldn?t say confidence was dwindling but it certainly wasn?t what it was when we had won eight games in a row, so it was important for us to get back on the winning trail again as soon as possible.

It didn?t matter how the win came but it was good that we got it. We weren?t great in the first half against Bristol City, it was a pretty average performance but we did enough and we got ahead.

And then the home crowd started getting on top of their players and we sort of cashed in on that and got a second. I got the header and it was going in but Freddy (Eastwood) went in a made sure ? and I can?t blame the guy. I?ve scored plenty like that in the past.

We then got the third and that was that. I wouldn?t have said we were three goals better than them but we got that win and it was another week at the top again.

And it was nice for me to go back to Ashton Gate. I got a good reception from the fans there when we first walked around the ground, when we warmed up and then when I got subbed.

It?s nice to know that the time you have spent at a club is appreciated. They weren?t singing the ?Feed the Goat? song but I got a good round of applause which is always good to hear for a professional

The other great thing about the game was the hat-trick for Freddy. It?s good for him to get those goals. He is one of those guys ? like Dave Kitson at Reading ? who is probably a better player than the standard he is playing at.

He is probably good enough to play a level or two higher so that puts pressure on Southend as a club to move up and give him the challenge he needs.

The great thing about Freddy is that he still has a lot to learn and will learn it from playing at the higher level and playing with better players.

His goals have helped us this season and the competition for places among the strikers is bringing out the best in all of us and helping score the goals to push us up the table.

Although it?s great to be top, it would be silly to start talking about the play-offs just yet. It is not even Christmas and there is a lot of football to be played.

If we keep playing like we have been and getting the results then it might become an issue, but for now there is no point in talking too much about it.

I have been around the game long enough to know that football is the great humbler. One week you are the best thing since sliced bread and the next you are absolute rubbish.

That?s what the game can do to you. You can be top one minute and then three losses later you are wondering where the next win is coming from. People said Chelsea couldn?t lose and then they did, it happens.

* * * *

We got drawn against Barnet in the FA Cup which will be a tough game for us. The FA Cup is a great competition and as a fan it is wonderful because of the uncertainty in any game and the chance of an upset.

For a player, it is not always so great.

When you are playing at the top level and you get drawn against lower division sides and have to go and play at compact grounds where the fans are right up against the pitch, it is not a lot of fun.

You want to be like the SAS, get in and get out again as quickly as possible.

Although it would be great for us to have an FA Cup run, get a big draw and get some money through the gate, long term the best thing for the club is to do well in the league.

At the end of the campaign, I would rather look back and see us in or around the play-offs than have a run in a competition we know we are not going to win.