Freddie Ljungberg was delighted to finally get off the mark for West Ham United - the culmination of several impressive performances from the Swedish midfielder.
Against Birmingham City on Saturday, Ljungberg popped up from close range in the seventh minute to connect with Carlton Cole's flicked header back across goal to send the ball beyond Maik Taylor into the net with a neat finish. "It was a great start to the game," he said. "It was nice to score a goal but it is disappointing we didn't win."
Ljungberg had come close in recent matches to opening his account in claret and blue but he would have gladly swapped the goal for all three points, having seen James McFadden earn the visitors a point with his 16th-minute penalty. "In the first half we played really good football and maybe we could have scored some more goals. We did some good sharp passing, and even in the second half we created some chances and could have scored."
That difficult period after the interval saw the team up against a Birmingham side who were content to get ten men behind the ball and look to hit their hosts on the break. As a result, the play failed to live up to the early exchanges. "That is something we spoke about afterwards," Ljungberg added. "We have to keep on working and playing our football, playing our game if things aren't going our way."
Despite the disappointment of failing to secure a fourth straight league win at the Boleyn Ground, Ljungberg is more than content with his own form. "Personally I have felt great the last one or two months. It helps to be injury free and that you can train." With no game until Fulham away in a fortnight, the squad will have the chance to rest but Ljungberg's hunger to keep on going is such that "I would like to play again tomorrow".
Having already focused on club commitments by not playing for Sweden in midweek, he will surely be fully recharged for that London derby on 23 February. He said: "I have never had a break like this and I am going to try and use it as wisely as possible." There is no doubting the determination within the squad over the next two weeks to learn from Saturday's stalemate. "Even if we are drawing or even one-nil down we have to keep on playing," Ljungberg concluded.