SEAN O'Driscoll today said he always believed the goals would come for Billy Sharp.
The Nottingham Forest manager was delighted to see the striker get off the mark for the club as the Reds claimed an encouraging 3-1 win over Cardiff City.
But O'Driscoll insisted he knew it would not be long before the forward found the net for the first time.
"Just look at his record. It shows that he scores goals," said O'Driscoll. "He was disappointed not to have got a hat trick against Peterborough, in our previous game.
"He would have done if not for their keeper making some good saves and a few people not passing to him when he would have had a tap-in.
"But he was delighted to get the goal. He and Radi Majewski play well together, they have a good little partnership. Radi gave them a problem in the early part of the second half, after we had brought him on.
"We had to sacrifice Radi at the end, but that was only because we have this habit of going down to ten men."
That moment came after Adlene Guedioura had been sent off after collecting his second yellow card of the game.
But O'Driscoll felt the Algerian was harshly treated, following a first yellow card for simulation that came after the midfielder had appeared to have been fouled.
"The first booking was extremely harsh. He was pushed in the back and tried to keep his feet. He didn't fall straight away, but momentum brought him down eventually – and he then gets booked for simulation," said O'Driscoll.
"The referee, when he looks at it, will be disappointed. The second one, yes. I can see why that was a booking. But the first one was very harsh.
"At least we have plenty of midfield players to cover for his suspension. If it had been a defender, we might have been struggling."
Guedioura's suspension could pave the way for Jermaine Jenas to return to the squad.
And O'Driscoll says there was a reason why the on loan Spurs man was left out on Saturday.
"He played against Peterborough and, because of the international break, the boys had the following Monday off. He trained on the Tuesday, when we came back – but then his back went into spasm," he said.
"He didn't train again until the Thursday just gone. He did an hour or so then and perhaps an hour or so on Friday.
"I had players who had been training solidly for two weeks. When you are trying to motivate everyone and keep the squad together – and with the amount of midfield players you have got – it is only right that you pick the players who have put in a shift day in, day out.
"It is unfortunate for Jermaine. But, with Adlene now missing for Tuesday, he could come back into the squad.
"You have to be consistent in what you do with the players. When you have trained for only a few days in one-and-a-half weeks, is it worth the risk putting him in the squad when we have so many midfield players available?"
O'Driscoll admitted he had already taken Simon Cox off at half time to avoid seeing the striker collect a red card, after he had been involved in an altercation in first half injury time that saw him collect a yellow card.
"We made a change, because Simon was very close to being sent off and we could not take that risk. We would have ended up with nine men, rather than ten," he said.
I spoke to the referee at half time and asked him how close he was to sending him off. Some referees would say 'no, he's fine'.
"But the referee looked as though he had gone for another card after he had booked him initially and I thought he was going for a red then, so we could just not take the risk.
"One of Simon's strengths is that he is all action and he wants to win. He is not vindictive. But one late challenge and we would have been down to ten men."
