Souey's been the key to success WHAT a way to celebrate Graeme Souness's first year in charge!

Winning at Birmingham on Wednesday night was a massive result for us.

It was a hostile atmosphere at St Andrew's but there's no better way to keep the home fans quiet than scoring a killer goal like that just before half time.

I thought our 2-0 win was a fitting way to mark the gaffer's first year in charge because the impact he's made since taking charge has been nothing short of sensational.

When he came in 12 months ago, we were really struggling to be honest.

Tony Parkes had done a great job in pulling us away from the relegation zone but a club like ours should have been up among the promotion places.

Now Graeme has turned things around completely and the town is buzzing again.

And I can't thank him enough for what he's done for me personally.

Since he arrived, I've been given the chance of a regular first team spot, I'm now back in the England Under 21s and I've just signed a new four year contract.

But, most importantly, he has given me the confidence to go out and express myself.

And the Souness factor was one of the main reasons why I decided to sign a new contract.

He's not only the right man to lead us to promotion but I'm also convinced he's the best man to bring me on as a player. And I'm sure a lot of the other lads think the same way, too.

We all believe in what he's trying to do and I'm sure the fans can see we are all up for it.

Down at Arsenal last week, we were all given a reminder of what we've been missing over the last two seasons.

Our performance on the day underlined the current gap between the Premiership and the First Division.

By that I mean you've got to make your decisions a lot quicker at that level.

But I believe, if we were to go up, then we'd quickly adjust because you'd soon get used to playing at that pace, week in, week out -- we wouldn't have a problem.

There's a lot of hard work to be done over the next two months, though, before we can even start dreaming of putting that theory to the test.

We've done brilliantly over the last few weeks to beat some of our main rivals in Bolton and Birmingham.

But now we need to make sure we don't slip up against some of the struggling teams like Grimsby and Gillingham.

Of course we'll show them the necessary respect but these games from which you'd expect us to pick up three points and that will only happen if we maintain our current attitude and work-rate.

The minute you start thinking you're a good team, someone will come along and trip you up.

On a personal note, I'm gutted to be missing this afternoon's game with Wimbledon.

I went for an X-ray on my toe yesterday and, though nothing is broken, it's been giving me grief for some time.

Hopefully, a bit of rest should help to clear it up because I want to be back for the Burnley game.

One way or the other it looks like I won't be going to Dubai next week.

I know the rest of the lads are looking forward to it, though, and it certainly beats going to Spain for a mid-season break!

P.S. I wonder if Heresay will get to number one tomorrow. I've been glued to Popstars on TV and I've got to admit that tune is quite catchy.