Hello everyone,
It has been a good week for me and for the Club.
I was really happy to make my first appearance of the season for the first team at Burnley on Tuesday, and it was all the better because we won the game and got through to the Capital One Cup quarter-finals.
It's always good to play in the first team - that's where you want to be. I'm just pleased we got the right result and as part of the back four or five during the game I'm happy we got a clean sheet too.
It was also a big night for Leo Chambers and Pelly Ruddock, who I know well and have been playing alongside regularly at Under-18 and Development Squad levels for the past few years. Leo and Pelly did really well. Leo is only 18 and Pelly was making his debut, so they could have felt nervous, but they certainly didn't let the pressure get to them.
All three of us have been pretty much ever-present in the Under 21s this season, playing well and keeping clean sheets which have bought about some very good results. To go to Burnley, get the win and the clean sheet was a fantastic feeling.
As I mentioned, it was my first first-team appearance of the season and first since I was knocked out playing at Arsenal in January!
From my point of view I've just kept pushing and pushing and tried to stay fit. I've now got to keep training hard and training well waiting for the opportunities to come. When they do come my way I like to think I will be able to take them. I was pleased with my performance against Burnley in a team performance that was very good in the end.
There's no equivalent to first-team football and if you can't get it here then the next best thing is for you to move on loan and help you develop. It has to be the right move for yourself however. You don't want to be in a situation where you're out on loan and not playing games. The idea is to go out and get games under your belt and if that opportunity comes then we'll see but for now I'm just taking each game as it comes.
I went to Colchester United on loan last season - a club where my good friend Elliot Lee has recently gone on loan - and enjoyed the experience, even if I didn't win a game while I was there!
For now, I'm very happy with the way the Burnley game went and now I can move on to the next one, which is likely to be tonight's Barclays U21 Premier League match at Chelsea.
We've been going really well this season and go into the match top of the table, so we want to win and stay there. I remember losing on penalties to Chelsea a couple of seasons ago, so that will give me and some of the other lads plenty of added motivation to beat them this time around.
I should also mention the Under-18s, who are on a five-match unbeaten run at the moment and are also doing well. My Dad would not forgive me if I didn't mention them too!
The first team welcome Aston Villa tomorrow and I know the boys are determined to finish off a good week with a victory on home turf. I am sure we can do that with a full stadium behind us.
Come on you Irons!
Dan