Craig Bellamy is delighted to be back in the swing of things at West Ham United after making a goalscoring return at the weekend.
The striker made his first appearance for the club since 15 September against Sunderland on Sunday, having initially recovered from groin surgery to play two games for Wales in the last fortnight. It was a difficult schedule but he kept going against the Premier League newcomers to score his first goal at the Boleyn Ground and seal a 3-1 victory.
"I felt a bit leggy because of the busy week I've had," Bellamy said. "I've been out for a month and then been travelling and playing all over. So trying to cram so many games in is obviously going to take its toll but I got a second wind in the last 15 minutes and just ran off the back of that basically." His goal was a neat finish that spoke volumes about his hunger to score, getting in front of his marker to steer a Luis Boa Morte cross beyond Craig Gordon and, in the process, confirm a precious win.
He added: "We were delighted to get the three points. Obviously it was a bit tough towards the end but getting the three points was more important than how we performed because we didn't perform as well as we should have done. But the 3-1 scoreline did flatter us a little bit." Next up for Bellamy will be a trip to Portsmouth and, with his first game alongside Carlton Cole in attack leading to a goal apiece, there is every reason to be confident.