Thrown to the Wolves

Happy New Year everyone.

Christmas is a strange time for a footballer - it just flew past. But I can't complain. I love being a footballer.

My daughter will be three later this month, so she is just old enough to understand Christmas is a special time. She loved it. She got loads of presents, but for her it's just a case of taking the wrapping paper off as quickly as possible before moving on to the next present.

We trained on Christmas Day and were in a hotel that night at 6pm to prepare for the QPR game on Boxing Day. I had the family over after the game, which was nice. My house was just full of people.

We had a great win at Southampton on New Year's Day. They are a hard team to play against. It was even more important after losing to QPR.

Our results in December were very mixed. We had a couple of disappointments, especially at home, but our form away from home has been second to none. If we can replicate that at Vicarage Road then we will be flying.

I'm not sure why we have struggled at home so much. Teams might have worked out how we play and try to frustrate us. Sometimes teams pull all ten outfield players back into the penalty box when they play us. When you are attacking it's easy to forget about your defensive duties. We have been caught on the counter-attack a few times this season.

We need to get back to basics. We have enough quality in our side.

It was good to beat Palace in The Cup on Saturday. It's always difficult to play against teams managed by Neil Warnock. It's nice to win games, especially at home. It's good for the fans - it has been frustrating for them in recent weeks.

We got drawn against Wolves in the Fourth Round. That's another tough game but we are confident of getting through. They are another team we are familiar with. We have beaten them this season so they will come to Vicarage Road hoping to avenge that. It's an advantage that we are at home.

I love The FA Cup. I grew up watching Cup matches on TV. Being an Arsenal supporter, I have good memories of watching them win The FA Cup. I remember Wimbledon winning in 1988 too.

We have a tough trip to Preston on Saturday. They are bottom of the league and are battling for survival. They are desperate for points but so are we.

There is a lot of speculation about me leaving Watford, but I just get with it. The newspapers are always in the changing room so everyone reads them. They are always a good source of banter. I am under contract here and have a job to do. I'm happy - we are top of the league. I could do with scoring a few more goals though. I have 11 so far this season.

Speak to you soon

Laters.