INTERVIEW: The deliveries are what a striker dreams of

“We’re a bit disappointed that we didn’t get the win,” he said. “We worked hard in the game and we showed character to come back but, with the chances we had, we should have walked away with three points.

“As I say, it’s a game we know we should have won but confidence is still very high. If we keep creating chances like that, and if we keep dominating the way we are, we know we’re going to win games.

“We’re all still getting up to speed and to the pace of the game we need to be at and it’s about staying positive and believing in what we’re doing. Having that means we’ll go on to do better things each time.”

“We are showing a lot of character at the moment,” he agreed. “We had to come from behind last Tuesday in a game we could and should have won, and we’ve done that again in this one. 

“You have to be happy with how we’re playing because it would be a completely different story if we were getting whooped every week. When chances as good as this are being created it will definitely come. 

“The outlook we have here is that we need to maintain mental strength throughout the whole year and not just for the first half of the season. We’re playing well, so we’ll keep going, and a lot of the new faces who’ve come into the club have experienced promotion and they have a real hunger to get it again.”

On getting his first 90 minutes of the season, he said: “I’m over the moon with that. The fitness I got out of the game was fantastic for me and hopefully the sharpness will come to get me over the line with the goals sooner rather than later.

“The quality of the deliveries into the box are the kind of thing you dream about as a striker so I know it will all come together. Getting through the game with no reaction was important to me so that I can continue to get up to speed. I should have the ‘juice’ back fully with another couple of games under my belt.”

Speaking about some of the chances which came his way, he said: “You’ve got to keep going, any striker will tell you that. 

“You know you’re going to get chances sooner or later, and that they’ll go in, and I’ll put it down to being ring rusty at the moment.  

“After each game you have a look at what you’ve done and you calculate how and where you could have done things better. I’ll think about a couple of things at home and then on Monday it’s about a fresh start and going again.”

Next up for the Blues is the trip to iPro Stadium to face Championship side Derby County.

“That’s a fantastic game to look forward to,” he said. “They’re another top club and I’ve never been to their stadium before, so I’m quite looking forward to it. 

“Hopefully we’ll give a good account of ourselves and give the fans something to cheer about.”