WHAT a difference a week makes! In last Thursday's column I was wondering where the first win would come from, I admitted we were all struggling for form and I was looking ahead to the trip to Derby with more hope than confidence.

Today we are all preparing for the match with Stoke on the back of two straight wins and relishing the prospect of having as a good a month in September as it was bad in August.

I could not explain why so many players were having a struggle for form at the same time and I also don't know why it has all of a sudden clicked.

It has been an amazing turnaround and things have started to go our way, starting with a penalty and own goal at Derby.

Take myself. The manager left me on the bench against Derby but when I came on at half time, for the first time this season everything seemed to feel right.

I have never been the type of player to have a moan at a manager when I am left out.

I don't make excuses, he is paid to make those decisions and I am paid to play well on the pitch and try and help the team win.

Of course all players want to play but I try to just let my feet do the talking.

We have got a lot of players wanting to be in the side and so some people will always be on the bench or in the stand.

It is not the first time I have been left out and when you get in you just have to try and grab your chance to put things right.

Just look at the situation the gaffer has got with the strikers, if we do have strength in depth in the squad it is up front.

Dimi and Gareth did well against Crystal Palace but then missed the Derby match by going on international duty. Robbie Blake and Ian Moore did well, we won the game and they kept their place.

Then the other two come off the bench against Blackpool and are involved in a couple of goals.

It will be a tough decision for the gaffer to make at the weekend but that is what managers want, a lot of players doing well and fighting for places.

Certainly none of us are surprised that Robbie is starting to play well.

I remember playing against Bradford reserves about five years ago when Chris Waddle was here and thinking what a good player he was. Since then he has scored a lot of goals and he has bags of skill and ability.

Where he has been unlucky is not being 100 per cent fit but I have certainly enjoyed linking up with him in the last couple of games.

In the past he has been on the other side of the pitch to me, either he has been left and me right or the other way round, but it has worked well with him in attack.

We all feel like we are getting back to the way we played at this time last season. Granty and Weller have done well in midfield, we are creating chances and we can't wait for the back to back home games against Stoke and then Millwall.

I have happy memories of playing Stoke, getting a couple of goals against them in the manager's first year here, but we know it will be tough.

We have got our season off the ground at last but we still have to kick on.

We have got a spring in our step and a smile on our face but that will only stay if we can keep winning.