I PICKED up a bug when I was away on Scotland duty in Georgia and it floored me for a few days.

I missed the Colchester and Blackpool games but now I'm back in training and we'll see how Thursday and Friday go.

I'll hopefully be in contention for the Norwich game on Saturday.

I know a few of the boys at Carrow Road - David Marshall and Dion Dublin from Celtic, Ian Murray from Rangers and some others.

I know that as a group they will be hurting being down in 23rd place in the table.

And, with managerial changes and stuff, there will be people watching and keeping them in the press.

There's obviously the question of whether someone is going to come in as manager or Jim Duffy is going to stay there.

They have only picked up one point from a possible 18 on the road this season but we have to be wary because so often a team that are down can be dangerous.

Obviously our home form has been good, everybody knows that, with only one blip against Stoke, and we'll be looking to take three points.

But we will show them the same respect we show anybody else.

I think it is vital to win matches when you're not playing at your best and it is one of the keys to progressing in this league.

We did that in yesterday's 2-1 win over Blackpool when Mozza came up with a stunning strike to win it for us.

It is also vital to keep the home form up, but you have got to try not to rely on it.

Everybody here knows we have got to start picking our away form up and get more points on the road.

I don't want it to come to the end of the season and for us to think 'if only we'd done this or done that'.

I think we need to pick up our away form collectively.

I think we have got to start taking responsibility as a team.

We are conceding a lot of set-pieces, but it would be unfair to point the finger and blame a person or just the defence.

When we get set-pieces you get a lot of the midfield back, myself and the other strikers are generally back defending, so I think it is a team thing.

The manager said that 79 per cent of the goals we've conceded have come from set-pieces and we have to improve on that as a team.

If we can improve it then we'll go far in this league.

Both Ishmael and Kev have scored recently and both have been doing well.

As I've said before, the manager is fortunate that he has got a bit of talent and a bit of personality to choose from.

It can only be good.

It will keep the boys who are in the team on their toes and the boys who are not working harder.

Obviously, being away on international duty, means I've missed training and the team has kind of been chopped and changed.

Now I'm back and I'll be working as hard as I can to make sure I'm over my bug and can get in the team.

This sounds clichéd but every month is as tough as the next.

This month is important but next month's game for Scotland against Italy is enormous - we simply have to win to qualify for Euro 2008.

We've beaten the old world champions, France, twice in the campaign.

Now it's as simple as beat Italy and we're through, don't beat them and we're out.

It would have been nice to win on Georgia and then parked the team bus in front of our goal against Italy!

It was very disappointing collectively to lose 2-0.

But I'm probably right in saying that if you had offered us the chance at the start of the group to win the last game and go through, we would have taken that.

It's going to be hostile at Hampden Park for the Italians but I don't think they will be fazed.

They have played in front of many hostile crowds, so it's going to be an open match.

It will be the biggest game I've ever been involved in and the biggest for Scotland in years.

But first, on the club front, we've got to visit leaders Watford and it would be nice to make up some ground on them.

Subscribe to Albion World now for just £3.99 a month (click here)!