It was another chance for me to blow out the cobwebs against Walsall – although there is a lot more riding on matches than simply my fitness.

After missing the Carlisle cup match following my debut for the club, I’m looking to get myself up and running to full fitness and match sharpness as quickly as possible.

I took a knock to my calf against Huddersfield but the injury is fine now and I’m hoping to do as well as I can do for the team, myself and the manager.

Chris Powell has shown a lot of faith in me by bringing me in on loan from Preston and then putting me in the starting line-up, so my aim is to repay him in the only way I know how – on the pitch with good performances and results. What happens at the end of my loan period in January obviously depends on how well I do but there are many matches before those sorts of conversations start.

I was pleased to be able to get back to make a goalline clearance against Walsall last weekend and I’ve made a bit of a career from the defensive side of the game.

That comes as second nature to me now, so I’m focusing on getting the ball down and playing. The surface at the Banks’s Stadium wasn’t great but I’m sure with our home pitch, which is a lovely surface, I’ll be able to get the ball down to play good football.

We were disappointed not to get all three points against Walsall because when you’re at the top end of League 1 you’re expected to be beating lower-end teams. That’s the pressure you are under and we had enough chances to go out there and get the right result.

But it’s rare to win every game and my old manager at Norwich, Paul Lambert, used to say that, come the end of the season, those points are the ones that make a difference and add up to a good season.

I achieved promotion with Norwich two seasons ago but I have noticed that League 1 has improved since then. I think that better players are filtering down the league.

Getting promotion is never easy but Charlton are in a great position and a successful festive period would set us up perfectly for the second half of the campaign.

The boys are currently playing with a real freedom and that was noticeable from the day I arrived.

It’s great when you see that players have the confidence to go and express themselves. It’s been working so far this season, so there’s no reason to change it.