IT’S been a few weeks since I’ve written for you so I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

Having picked up a calf injury the week before Christmas I was able to enjoy a bit more turkey, but in pushing to be fit for the Fulham game I probably put my recovery back a week or so.

Ultimately, it didn't make much difference as there weren’t any more games to be involved in due to the weather, until our victory against Gillingham at the weekend.

It was a brilliant effort from everyone who helped clear the pitch to make it playable as it didn’t look anywhere close to being on.

We’re glad it was, and it was an important victory which keeps us in a good position and also means we don’t have another fixture to add to the couple we’ve already got in hand.

Although I was only out for a few weeks, it’s amazing how much you miss being involved with the rest of the lads and even just kicking a ball. But most of all I don’t think my backside could have taken any more of Dave Morrison’s bike and rowing sessions!

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the company of Dave, Dick Mackey and the rest of the injured lads. Every day’s a school day with Dick as he’s always got a little nugget of trivia to share on subjects as diverse as World War II and sledging.

Alan O’Brien, Kurt Hammonds and myself were also kept amused with Callum Kennedy’s interesting stories, most of which are unprintable!

Recently, Callum and his flatmate bought a Staffordshire Bull Terrier pup which they’ve decided to call Flames – “because he’s on fire” apparently.

Callum claims he had him toilet trained in a week and is already teaching him to sit and do tricks. It sounds like we may have found Britain’s answer to the Dog Whisperer. As you may have already read earlier in the week, our Haitian defender Lecsinel Jean Francois has been waiting for news regarding the wellbeing of relatives after the Earthquake which hit his home country last week.

He has already heard from some family members but his sister and some aunts, uncles and cousins still haven’t been contacted.

Everyone at the club is supporting him but we can only imagine what he’s going through and, although football is the least of his worries, we can’t commend him highly enough for the way he’s gone about his business and the performances he’s given in recent games.

In conjunction with the Adver and Swindon’s Afro-Caribbean Association, the club are taking in donations of food, clothing and funding to help in the relief effort.

Contributions of any kind, big or small will be hugely appreciated. To those of you who have already given and those who are going to give, thank you.