Kayden Jackson is hoping his goal in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Brentford is the first of many as he continues to get to grips with the challenge of the Championship.
The striker, signed from Accrington Stanley in the summer for an initial £1.6million, had previously netted in the Carabao Cup at Exeter but opened his league account with a header which secured the Blues’ fourth-successive home draw this season.
That point could even have been three, had Jackson been able to convert a late chance after being slipped in on goal, but the striker admitted that is all part of the learning curve as he continues his start to life in the second tier.
“I’ll take any goal, however it comes, but to get my first Championship goal is special and it’s even better to have been able to help the team get a point,” he said.
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“It could possibly have been three at the end if my legs hadn’t turned to jelly but I’ll be working hard to build on that now and get more goals for the team.
“That chance was possibly a bit late (in the game) for me but I’ll keep working on the fitness and the sharpness so hopefully now I get a run of games behind me which will help that to come.
“I’m enjoying the challenge of the Championship but it’s a very tough league and a bit of a learning curve.
“I’m working hard to improve my game constantly. I know for a fact I’m not the finished article so there’s a lot more to come for me.
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“Hopefully it’s like buses for me now in terms of goals.”
The Blues needed a dramatic turnaround to secure the draw with Brentford as they recovered from a poor first half to level against the league’s second-placed side, with Jackson hopeful they can take their second-half display into Saturday’s clash with Bolton.
“First half we were disappointed because we never really got into the game and didn’t stamp our authority on it at all, like we wanted. We have a gameplan and, mostly because they are a very good footballing side, it didn’t work.
“We changed things and everybody could see we were the better side.
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“The gaffer’s very calm when it comes to that kind of things while it’s easy for some to be emotional, but he told us we were still in the game at 1-0 down and we had to keep battling and keep playing the way we can play.
“We didn’t give the crowd much to cheer in the first half. As a fan myself I know what kind of football I want to be watching – you want to see your team having a good go and we did that second half.
“Hopefully now we can build on that and start the game on Saturday as we finished this one.”
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