WELL, these blogs are getting harder to write these last few weeks.

After a bright week's training we put in a poor performance against Dartford. It’s frustrating as we have become a poor team overnight.

We have some good young players who need to learn from it and we have senior players who have to start leading including myself.

It’s one of the most testing times of my career and the most goals I've conceded as a professional player.

We were very tight at the back pre-season and early season. We need to get back to that quickly.

I know we have the right management in place and it’s up to us players to perform for them.

It’s a tight league and we are only a few points off the top, now we need some consistency.

On a brighter note I became an uncle for the first time this week.

My brother and his wife had a healthy boy called Leo and I’m delighted to welcome him into the family! Between my brother and me, I’m pretty sure he will be out in the back garden kicking a ball about (better than me) with a Liverpool shirt on in no time!

I’ve been impressed with the facilities at the training ground I have to say. It has under gone some improvements since the end of last season.

We had been temporarily training elsewhere until these were done.

I get there at nine; have breakfast and a chat with the early birds who get there around the same time! Our kit is there to put on in the changing room and there is space for the senior boys to have an early stretch too!

The snooker challenge was set to me and Chris Carruthers by Harry Pell and Byron Anthony.

Best of five sets and winner has to pay for the ‘tab’. Now Harry has his own snooker cue and practises every day yet his highest break is nine! So the standard of the game was never going to be high.

The tab started with four drinks and a sandwich each.

After two narrow black ball games, we are two games down. With victory in sight, Harry orders another drink each and chocolate to put the tab up. Typical Harry, I would like to say it ended with an egg in his face…yet he and Byron wrapped up the game on the pink for a resounding 3-0 victory.

The fines kitty has slowly been building up over the last few weeks.

It’s important to keep professionalism going no matter what is going on. It instils discipline, too.

One person who features regularly is Marley Watkins. I try to look after people with bargaining deals. Yet you have to help yourself and passing wind in the physio's room during treatment isn’t acceptable.

I’m sure his Nanny Watkins (who reads this blog regularly) helped bring you up better than that Marley!

Let’s hope it makes him run faster on the pitch for us Saturday as he’s been great for us so far this season!