Shaun Goater led by example on Saturday, captaining the Manchester City side and scoring once in the 2-0 victory over Grimsby.

Goater bagged number 21 for the season in the second minute of injury time after Darren Huckerby had put the Blues ahead from the spot.

And the 31-year-old believes victories away from home will be key if City are to gain promotion back to the Premiership next season.

"It is ever so important to get the first goal away from home because that settles you down," Goater said.

"We know that if we do that, we can go on from strength to strength. But we should have the confidence to play as if we are at home because there is a lot of ability in this side."

City beat Rotherham in their last Division One game, a match Goater missed through injury, and the striker hopes that despite coming unstuck subsequently in the League Cup against Blackburn, they are finding consistency where it matters most.

"We are hoping to get on the consistent winning trail," he said. "When people like Steve Howey and Stuart Pearce get back from their injuries the gaffer will have a headache about who to play because we have a good squad here.

"We can't use as an excuse that teams are going to raise their game every time they play us. We are in December now and can't be surprised by anyone.

"What we have to do is match those teams and then our football will hopefully come through."

With games against Millwall and Crystal Palace this week, Goater is fully aware how results in London will shape the Blues' season. But the player says he is taking things 90 minutes at a time.

"The boss (Kevin Keegan) is good at focusing at just one game at a time," he said. "He doesn't let us think too far ahead as he doesn't want us to miss any opportunities.

"It would nice to think that we can get maximum points from these next games and get up the table, but we have to just take one game at a time."

Bermudian David Bascome had a miserable weekend as the Harrisburg Heat lost two games in as many days, one by the biggest margin for seven years.

Although Bascome scored against the Kansas City Comets on Saturday, the Heat crashed 24-6, the worst defeat since 1994.

Yesterday afternoon they lost again, this time 9-7 to the Milwaukee Wave.

The defeats dropped Harrisburg to 5-5 on the year and put them in a third-place tie with Baltimore in the Major Indoor Soccer League table.