It is always good to see a youngster do well, so I was very pleased for my teenage strike partner on Sunday, James Lawson.

It was his first pro game and I knew as the experienced player alongside him, I had to do my bit to help out.

I know he said some nice things about me but, to be honest, I didn?t do anything out of the ordinary ? just exactly what I had been doing all along with Wayne Gray and Freddy Eastwood.

I just made sure I encouraged him whenever he did anything positive, just a little ?well done? every few minutes does wonders for a young player?s confidence.

I didn?t criticise him at all, just encouraged him along the way and I think he did very well.

It is so important to score early on in your career and it was great to see him get one in his first game. It means such a lot for a player?s confidence and he can now go on to the field with the belief that he is good enough to play at this level.

When you are playing your first match you are always nervous about everything you do, every little pass, every run ? you want to show what you can do but when you make the smallest mistake, you think ?oh, no, the gaffer?s going to pull me off now?.

That?s why it?s important for the players around him to be encouraging and I am pleased for the lad to get a header in his first game.

I felt a little disappointed not to score myself, though, also with a header.

A great cross came over at speed and I just guided it towards the goal, it was still going pretty hard because of the pace on the cross and it had the ?keeper well beaten ? he was about a yard-and-a-half away ? but it came back off the crossbar.

It is always disappointing not to score but we got the win and that is the important thing.

Every win at the moment is great for us. When a team gets promoted there is always some anxiety, particularly from guys who have never played at the higher level, that you are not good enough.

It can take a few games before the team settles down and getting some early points has been great for our confidence.

I don?t think anyone had expected to be up in eighth place at this stage of the season and even though we know there are going to be some tough times ahead, I think the early wins will give us belief that we are good enough to play at this level.

The win against Oldham was a monster result for us because we were playing without two key strikers and had an untested youth player up front.

To come away with the win in that game was incredible for the team.

But the real test will come when we lose a game or two ? it will then be about how we respond to that situation. You are always one result away from a bad run.

When I was younger, Brazil were always the team that I followed. It is hard not to support a team like that but after all these years in England, it is obvious that I would start following them.

All their games are watched by everyone here and they are all so passionate about it ? you just get caught up in it all.

I always fancy England in the big tournaments although they always seem to come unstuck when it comes to the quarters or around that stage.

I still fancy them for the World Cup next summer but you just never know with them ? and I?m sure a lot of people know how I feel.

Of course I watched the game against Wales on the weekend and I was pleased to see my old City team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips doing so well.

It was a surprise when they took him off, I thought he was one of the best players and gave them that extra dimension.

He is a good player and I always knew he would succeed at that level. I spoke to him after his transfer to Chelsea and wished him luck and told him to make the most of his abilities at such a big club.

There is nothing like watching a youngster grow from a raw talent into a world-class player.