Gutted to miss Cardiff´s big match

To be honest this has been an average week for me. I´m not happy at the moment because of the way things have gone. Everything was fine for the weekend but then I got dropped for the Reading game. I was very disappointed with that. I don’t think I deserved to get dropped.

I was on the bench which makes it even harder to take sometimes. I was playing week-in, week-out beforehand and the next minute I´m sitting on the bench watching the game. It´s disappointing because you don’t get the build-up and you don’t get that feeling of walking out onto the football pitch. That´s what you are paid for and, when you don’t get it, it´s hard.

You become a bigger and better player for it. It´s football and you have just got to get on with it. It´s tough but you have got to keep yourself fit and positive. You never know what´s round the corner.

We drew 2-2 with Reading and it was a shame we didn’t take all three points after leading twice. The first twenty minutes was some of the best football I´ve seen us play and we were 1-0 up. But then they slowly got back into it and it was hard to break them down once Andre Bikey was sent off. They put ten men behind the ball and made things tough for us.

Reading are one of the best sides in the division and a point is not to be sniffed at. The lads were just disappointed to concede two goals, we are in any game. That´s the disappointing thing. If we want to stay up, and in and around the play-offs we need to pick up points.

It´s good news that Joe Ledley is fit for the weekend. Jay Bothroyd and Ross McCormack are both back from hamstring injuries, so we are getting people back slowly. It´s nice to see Riccy Scimeca getting closer to a return too. He has been on the bench for the last few games and he´s had a terrible time with injury. He´s been out for almost 18 months. Riccy is a good friend of mine and it´s good to have him back in and around the squad.

Michael Chopra is back on loan with us now too and he started scoring straight away. He´s a great player Chops, he´ll score you goals and he is just as chirpy as ever. He´s a real livewire and he needs to be like that. When he´s not chirpy he isn´t scoring goals. I´m happy to have him back around the place.

Swansea this weekend is a massive game. I was disappointed with the way we played against them in the Carling Cup. I don’t think we played particularly well; to lose to a team is hard to take but to lose to a team and not play well is even harder. We need to produce a better performance for our fans.

Rivalries between Swansea and Cardiff run deep for the fans, we understand that – it´s all about local pride and bragging rights. It´s important and we have got to give them what they deserve. It will be a cracking atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium but I don’t think I´ll be playing. I´ll be very disappointed to miss out on a game like this.

Before I go I´d like to mention how much I am going to miss both a good friend and a great agent. Richard Cody was my agent for 16 years and he passed away earlier this month. Richard is probably the nicest man I ever met. He was a great friend and agent to me and I owe so much to him for the career that I have had. He is going to be missed by many people and my thoughts are with his wife and family at such a difficult time.

Thanks for visiting my site. Darren.