AFTER admitting he deserved to be dropped Jon Stead came off the bench to bag a brace for the Blues on Saturday.

Derek Davis

AFTER admitting he deserved to be dropped Jon Stead came off the bench to bag a brace for the Blues on Saturday.

Stead now hopes to capture a starting spot and start scoring away from home.

In a pre-match interview Stead admitted he had been below par on Tuesday against Charlton and did not expect the manager to pick him to start against QPR.

He also vowed to get back to the high standards he has set himself and did just that with two goals in three minutes just five minutes after going on.

Stead said: “I was disappointed with my performance on Tuesday so I had no complaints about being left out of the starting line-up against QPR.

“But obviously I'm delighted to be able to go on and score and play well. I'm happy that I'm back to the form I felt I was missing in the last couple of games.”

After netting his fifth goal for Town - all at Portman Road - since his £750,000 move from Sheffield United at the beginning of September, Stead is now looking to end his own away-day hoodoo.

But at least he can realistically expect to play at Bloomfield Road, and would pick himself on form.

“I'm hoping to start at Blackpool but we will wait and see.

“I do need to sort my away form out. The chances have been coming at home. For strikers it is always a concern if you are missing sitters but that has not been the case for me away, the chances just don't seem to have come.

“Whether that is me or the way we play I don't know but I do know if I can keep scoring at home then I can nick a few away.”

Stead thought he had fluffed his first chance when Pablo Counago hooked a Gareth McAuley nod-down into the six-yard box but he recovered to finish from close range.

Moments later he got on the end of an Owen Garvan corner to secure the victory.

He said: “I should have put it away first time but the keeper read it but fortunately it flicked back up and as I was getting up it hit me on the head.

“From getting that goal the confidence builds and with the second I have not headed a ball like that for a long time.

“It was two good goals but most importantly it was three points which we really did need.

“We have been playing well in the past three games so it was good to turn those draws into wins.”

The former Huddersfield, Blackburn and Sunderland striker came close to a last minute hat-trick but his 35-yard free kick came back off a post.

He said: “There were only a few minutes left so I thought why not?

“The keeper was watching it and I wondered if he was watching it because he was beaten or it was going wide but it came back off a post.”

Stead paid tribute to Irish midfielder Garvan, who has been in good goal-scoring form himself of late, but has also been perfecting his crossing from set pieces.

He said: “Owen puts it in the right place. We work on set plays and know where he is going to put it but when someone delivers it so accurately it is a massive bonus because we can time our runs and we are now getting on the end of them.

“It is pleasing to score from set plays because it is something we have not been doing.”