MY off the field problems with the manager have been well documented so I don't want to say too much more on the subject.

To me, it doesn't matter what happens off the pitch and who I talk to and who I don't.

The important thing is that I do my best for the club on the pitch, work hard and try to play as well as I can.

Which is why I was so pleased to play at Chelsea on Saturday.

It was great to be back in action again and good to get the winner as well.

I felt good, especially in the first half because I was seeing a lot of the ball. I didn't get on it as much as I would like to in the second half because they were pressurising us more.

But I felt good during and after the game, and I knew I would because the last two weeks of my recovery have all been about fitness.

The biggest thing for me was to get through a full game.

It's been a while since I played for 90 minutes, so hopefully I'll be all right from now until the end of the season.

Looking at the team performance as a whole, I thought we were very solid, particularly in defence, and you have to be against teams like Chelsea.

I thought we battled really well and, although we didn't have as many chances as they did, we put them away and that's all that matters.

The three points were important for us to get back on track, and it's crucial that we don't let all that hard work go to waste by not getting anything from our next match.

Unfortunately for us, Manchester City have happy memories of Ewood Park when they won promotion at our ground three seasons ago so that's something that might give them confidence going into the game.

But, on the other hand, they are bound to be smarting from their 5-1 defeat against Arsenal last weekend and will be working harder than usual for the three points. And they have some quality players with the likes of Robbie Fowler, Nicolas Anelka and of course Eyal Berkovic, who is coming back to his old stomping ground.

But the opposition's agenda doesn't matter to us. We've just got to concentrate on our own game.

People say a European place is an unrealistic target for us, but it's still there to play for and that's what we'll be doing. It's important to go into every game trying to win it, just as normal. We need to get some consistency going between now and the end of the season and prove to people were a capable of that.

As for me, I'm just going to concentrate on getting on with my job and take on board the positive things that the manager says to me.

There's been too much about us in the papers recently and I'd like to put it all to bed.

As long as I'm doing my best for the club on the pitch, that's the main thing for me.