We saw both sides of the game at The Valley last week and the fact we came through the tests against Huddersfield and Carlisle with flying colours, bodes well.

The two matches were poles apart. The Huddersfield game was a top-of-the-table, high-profile (well, as high profile as League 1 gets) encounter with a home crowd roaring us on in front of the Sky cameras.

You couldn’t really argue the same was true in the FA Cup against Carlisle but the result was – another 2-0 win.

We didn’t give the fans much to cheer in the first half, which was a bit lacklustre but we spoke at half-time about doing things at a higher tempo and this paid off.

For Carlisle, the manager made a few changes to the team from the Huddersfield game – my inclusion in the squad one of them – but it just proves how everyone is fighting to get in that starting XI.

Now we’ve got a third-round match to look forward to against Premier League Fulham.

I got our second goal against Carlisle and it was good to get a goal after coming on as a substitute and not only because it was long overdue. Sometimes a manager wants substitutes to shore up the midfield but another goal always kills the match off and I was happy the ball fell to me – even if it was a far from perfect finish.

A little deflection held up Yann Kermorgant’s cross before I got a touch on it and it trickled over the line.

People keep asking me what advice I am passing on to the rest of the squad but I’m not that old yet!

Of course, I’m now one of the older members in the squad and I suppose everyone’s going to be there at some point.

But I’m still focused on playing. I just see it as we’re all learning from each other, regardless of age and how many games you’ve played.

Almost as soon as I returned to Sparrows Lane in the summer, I noticed the potential of the squad.

Four months later, we’re showing we want to win games and do well and although you could say we’re halfway there this season, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.