Having gone some time without scoring I felt I needed a goal and so when no-one rushed to take the penalty we were awarded against Preston on Saturday I grabbed the ball with both hands.

We were 1-0 down at the time and when the referee pointed to the spot it sparked a huge debate between he and the Preston players.

One of their defenders had the ball and, unusually, no-one from our side attempted to take it off him.

My theory is quite simple: If you are the penalty taker you have the ball. So as none of our players went to get it I assumed the responsibility.

I don't know whether any of my team-mates had said beforehand that they were taking it, if they did I think I was so focused on the job at hand that I didn't hear them.

Anyway, I placed the ball, waited for the referee to give the go-ahead and then took it only for the 'keeper Jonathan Gould to save it and push it onto the post.

At this point one of our players rushed in and I thought 'square it, I'll have a tap in' but at the same time the referee signalled for the kick to be taken again as the 'keeper had come off his line.

As a result their players began to argue with the referee again and some of ours came to me saying they wanted to take the kick.

However, my belief is that if you don't have confidence in yourself you shouldn't expect anyone else to and especially as I hadn't missed the penalty, it didn't go in because the 'keeper had encroached illegally, I was determined to take it.

I blocked all the furore out and concentrated on the job at hand and as I was readying myself my team-mates shouted 'go on son, stick it away'.

I put the kick to the same side as the first one, to the 'keeper's right. I didn't consider doing anything else - if you play too many mind games you'll end up beating yourself.

After it went in the first thing I did was run to my team-mates and say thanks for letting me take it.

Whether I'll become Reading's regular penalty taker now or not I don't know. I used to be when I was at Rotherham and Bristol City, but I didn't take too many while at Manchester City, perhaps just two, one in the league and one in the cup.

Although it doesn't seem to work this way at our club, I believe that you should keep faith with the regular taker even if he misses. I strongly agreed with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson's stance when he was questioned about Ruud Van Nistelrooy after he missed from the spot. Ferguson's reply was that Van Nistelrooy would take the next one - that is what is needed from team-mates and staff, to have that confidence and self-belief in a player even if he has an off day now and then.

The goal, as I said, drew us level and we went on to win 3-2 with the third coming in stoppage time. Preston had had a player sent off early in the first half but they are a hard team to beat and even with the one player advantage it was never going to be easy for us.

A lot of people probably wouldn't expect them to do well, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made the play-offs. At City I remember them playing us off the park. They play a counter-attacking game, sucking you in and then hitting you on the break. Some teams try to play that way but lack the necessary quality to make a success of it. Preston have that quality.

When they went a man down they dug deep but we never really settled into our rhythm and were still playing towards their strengths rather than ours. We tried to go out and get a goal immediately and went the direct route. But this just played into their hands as they have some strong defensive players who are very good in the air.

In the second half, although we went 2-1 down, we were relentless in our pursuit of a goal and in the last 15 minutes we started to pass the ball around, were able to mount sustained attacks and got our just rewards with two in the last seven minutes.

When it comes to whether we were deserving winners, I like to look at attempts on goal and what opportunities the other side had. Preston will probably be a bit gutted that they didn't get anything out of the game considering they had ten men and the winner came so late, but I would say, being biased, that we were worthy winners because we were persistent and showed character in keeping going.

That is now two wins in successive games for our new manager Steve Coppell and we will be looking for a third tonight when we take on Walsall at the Madejski Stadium.

Apart from former Arsenal and England star Paul Merson they don't really have any recognised stars. I know one of their players, Paul Ritchie, from his days at Manchester City but outside of those two not many people would know the rest.

Some might think it's hard to motivate yourself for a game against a team where the opposition are not that well known but Walsall's players are seasoned pros at this level and they work hard as a unit.

They may not have the big names but we have to treat them with respect and regard them as we would one of the so-called big teams in the division.

We play one of those, Sheffield United, on Friday night but we can't afford to look past tonight and Walsall.

Hopefully, we can get the three points and continue to build on the early success we have found under the new gaffer. We knew the feeling of losing a few weeks ago and we have decided we don't want to know it again. If we can continue the run then we can start looking towards the top of the table and refocus on our aim at the start of the season, promotion.