FINALLY I can join the party and get back on the pitch playing football, and I couldn’t be happier about that.

I took part in a full training session on Thursday and it was great being back out there with the boys, especially as they are all flying after the success we had on Tuesday night at Brighton.

It was good to get a training session under my belt and I’m back in contention now, though I realise I’ll have to bide my time as I won’t be selected in the first XI, I woudn’t expect it or deserve it as we’ve produced two great performances.

I hope I can bring something to the party though because we’ve only been naming six subs, so if I can’t get on the bench in place of no-one I think the gaffer is trying to tell me something!

If I am on the bench I’ll be happy with any involvement, I felt great in pre-season and I don’t think the two weeks will set me back too much.

We’ve been looking forward to today but of course expect it’ll be a hard game.

Northampton is a place I’ve been to play plenty of times and it’s always a test, they’ll be fit and strong, Aidy Boothroyd will have a solid unit and it’ll be tough against the beaten play-off finalists.

But for me personally, I’m hoping I’ll be able to find my own form ths season a lot quicker than last.

I’ve had a full pre-season and that’ll help immeasurably, I was a little bit slow last season at times.

I’ve noticed a big difference already, I worked hard this summer and it’s massively important to be feeling as good as you possibly can be.

Obviously it’s absolutely thrilling to be playing in the next round of the Capital One Cup and West Brom is a great team to draw, you can’t really ask more than getting to play a Premier League side.

But of course, without any shadow of a doubt, the amazing win at Brighton and the opportunity to play West Brom is all overshadowed by Byron Anthony’s injury.

Byron is one of my close friends in the group, he’s a massive character for us on and off the pitch and we are going to miss him, he’s been so solid for us.

I give my regards and best wishes to Byron and hopefully he’ll be able to come to the Hawthorns with us and enjoy being part of the day.

No-one was happier than Byron about us getting the win and that just goes to show you what kind of a bloke he is, he’s not a sulker, he’s a top lad who is wholehearted and would do anything for this club.

It’s one of those things, it’s not nice, thankfully it doesn’t happen too much, but we all hope and expect to see him back sooner rather than later.

The whole night at Brighton has proved to have a controversial side to it after Brighton fans complained about our bench and so many of our staff were so upset by the reaction towards Byron when he was injured.

I wasn’t there, it doesn’t entertain me so I stay out of it, but the boys have told me what they thought of it all and some are very unhappy.

Some of the Brighton fans were booing when Byron was down and that’s a disgrace, you can’t justify it when his career could’ve been in danger. They might say they were booing the ref, but the end result is it becomes hostile and nasty and it’s one of the worst moments of Byron’s life probably.

For me that’s not right, you’ve sometimes got to look at it and ask if you’re behaving in the right way.

It’s all very good poking the finger at players for our conduct all the time, but everything we’ve heard about Tuesday, it just wasn’t good.

Finally, as a Liverpool fan, I have to talk about Luis Suarez and the mad situation he finds himself in at Liverpool.

To me it’s just unbelievable the way he’s going about things, it’s totally wrong because he’s been backed to the hilt by Liverpool twice.

Brendan Rodgers and Kenny Dalglish supported him so much and there are ways of going about things, not just throwing your toys out of the pram because of a disagreement in a contract clause.

It’s one of their rivals who want him and with the Champions League money on offer, you can see why Liverpool don’t want to sell to Arsenal, a rival club.

Hopefully, the likes of Steven Gerrard can sort his head out because he’s making horrible decisions and the way he’s doing things, he’s going about it in totally the wrong way!