HE has gone from the periphery to centre stage in five days.

Anonymous against Peterborough on Saturday, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas produced a man-of-the-match display in Wednesday night’s 1-0 over Burnley.

The scoreline might have been close but a fantastic second half showing ensured it was a dominant single-goal victory.

And Emmanuel-Thomas was at the heart of it with left-back Daniel Lafferty – and his 53rd minute replacement Ben Mee – having no answer to JET’s mix of tricks and power.

The former Arsenal man was delighted his own performance after admitting he was below-par against Posh at the weekend.

Emmanuel-Thomas said: “I didn’t have my best game on Saturday, everyone knows that – the boys, the manager, even the fans probably know that.

“It happens, but against Burnley I was back to my best and hopefully I can keep that standard up.”

Michael Chopra’s 14th goal of the season was enough to beat the Clarets and make it just one defeat in 10 matches for Paul Jewell’s men.

Of the striker’s typical poacher’s effort, Emmanuel-Thomas joked: “He just stands there, the ball drops and he kicks it in. There is not much else you can ask for – and no one here is complaining.”

Town still have three to play during the mad eight-game month of March but Emmanuel-Thomas added: “It has been a tough month, but I think we are doing well and we have not had too many injuries.

I’m not 100% sure why we have turned things around. We are working as a team and playing to our strengths. And once you are on a roll, it is hard to get off it.”

Away from Wednesday’s impressive win – Town’s fifth consecutive at Portman Road, Emmanuel-Thomas reiterated his support for stricken Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba, whose 13-year-old brother is a member of the Blues academy. JET, who played with Muamba at Arsenal, said: “He is a strong lad. Everyone is praying for him and I know it has helped. He will pull through. He is a very determined young man.”