Well, what a game! It had taken a late winner from Jeff Legue to secure the points for us but we had just dominated Coventry Blaze for 60 minutes.

I don't think I've ever seen Coventry dominated for 60 minutes before and I've certainly never been on a team that has done that.
When I joined the Steelers they had just finished sixth in League standing; last season I think we finished fourth and here we are now battling for first place, but let's be honest, favourites for second place.

That's the right type of progression.

In my mind it shows two things: one, we're heading in the right direction and two, we have a core of players that have a real feel for this club, want to stay here for a long time and know that they will deliver the success that the owner, the management, the fans and the team itself, crave for.

We have at last found a system that suits us and every single one of us has bought into that system.

On Sunday, we played Newcastle and all week in the press they were saying how they were going to bully us, beat us up and we couldn't cope with their toughness.

What rubbish! Two things. One, we're an experienced team of men, we have more toughness than they do. Maybe we don't have the big 6ft 4 inch fighters they have, but our toughness is team toughness, mental toughness, a disciplined toughness.

Point two: for them to bully us they've got to be able to catch us, and quite simply they can't and they couldn't. And we won the game.
As I have said before, when we get the puck low, start to cycle and use our speed, and when we do this for 60 minutes we win hockey games. It's why we have lost just one of the last 13 League games.

Right now we have confidence in ourselves as players and people. Whilst my legs still feel like they're falling off and my body is tired, when I wake up in the morning I can't wait to go to the rink, can't wait to see the guys and join in the banter and then thoroughly enjoy the hard work that is practice. But here's the real thing: I'm joined by another 18 guys who feel exactly the same whether they're the young pups or the old veterans we all just want to be at the rink.

Our coach David Matsos has to take much credit for this.

The poor bloke's been under some pressure this year but he has stuck by us and kept faith in his players.

I think Steelers' fans have seen in recent weeks that his ways are the right way, that the future's only bright for this hockey club and all of us only see good things ahead.

Matty is hugely responsible for that. I only hope on Sunday we can deliver another performance at the Arena as we did last Saturday. Manchester are a team we may face in the Play-offs, so we must ensure that we have oneupmanship of them as we go into that series.