Despite substituting David at Nottingham Forest, Alan is keen to point out the reasoning behind that and he says:
"He really is putting in a stint and unfortunately tactically Forest changed, and I felt we just needed to lock the game up a little bit.
"He was the victim of that but it was not because of his performance - he has been terrific.
"He just can't seem to get that goal; it will come, but I said to him when he played that slightly deeper role it will be the case that he won't be judged on his goals - and I won't judge him on it.
"If the other two are scoring, and he is contributing, he is playing his role in the team and he is beginning, hopefully, to understand that.
"But he is a goalscorer and ultimately he wants to get a goal to give him the personal satisfaction that he craves - but it is not important to me.
"He is working terrifically hard for us and that is what it is about; you put your work rate in and you get the work ethic throughout the team - and your rewards will come."
Alan was pleased that the players were able to overcome the disappointment of the Ipswich defeat so soon, and he adds:
"Regarding the inconsistencies in our game and against Ipswich it was just a 15 minute period that cost us.
"We have got to start eliminating them - we did that at Forest to get the result we wanted.
"It was a thorough performance, really, and it was a shame we didn't send out some signals with more goals - which perhaps we should have got.
"I have been trying to get Connolly, Harewood, and Defoe in the same team and we changed it a litle bit and it looked better.
"It gives us something to build on which is what we are striving for, to get better balance to the team."