Michail Antonio hopes to keep pace with in-form striker Britt Assombalonga in the race to be the Championship top scorer – and help fire Nottingham Forest into the Premier League in the process.
The flying winger admits it will take something special to stay on the heels of the former Peterborough man, who has already bagged eight Championship goals since his £5.5m move from Peterborough in the summer – and will be looking to add to that tally against Brighton at the City Ground today.
Antonio himself has notched five in all competitions and admits trying to keep up with his 21-year-old team-mate has become a significant challenge, but he hopes that, by attempting to do so, he can keep Assombalonga on his toes, as well as keeping himself motivated.
"Hopefully I can add another goal against Brighton and add to my tally. I have not spoken to Britt about any competition in that sense – but I would love to keep up with him," said Antonio.
"I will have to get quite a few to keep up with him, so if I can do that, I will be happy. He is top scorer in the league right now.
"But I reckon we can get a healthy competition going, even if he is a striker and I am a winger. I am up for that challenge. Hopefully it can push us both on.
"I have found more threat, perhaps, than I had at (Sheffield) Wednesday, but it is difficult to compare last season, because I was injured quite a bit.
"The season before that I got nine goals and I have already got five this season. Hopefully I can add to it. I do look at things and see that I am up there among the top scorers in the division and that does motivate you."
Antonio has been used as a striker in some games by manager Stuart Pearce – and it is a role he is happy to continue, if asked, as he is just happy to be part of a side he believes could achieve something special this season.
"I do like playing on the wing, but I will play wherever the manager wants me to and he knows I will give it my all," he said. "I am happy to play up front, if he wants me to."
"The important thing is that we keep that unbeaten run going in the Championship now. Every game we feel as though we can win, we have a good squad here and we feel every game is a possible three points for us.
"With the squad we have here, we should be looking to get three points in most of the games we play. You do start to think that we have an opportunity.
"When I was looking to sign here, I had known about Forest and the fact that they had always been pushing for promotion in recent years. This year could be our year."
Antonio was one of many key players left out of the Capital One Cup tie at Spurs in midweek, with Assombalonga, Michael Mancienne, Chris Burke, Henri Lansbury and Karl Darlow among those rested, ahead of two Championship games in quick succession.
And the £1.5m signing from Sheffield Wednesday admits he feels better for it, saying: "We understood why we had been left out. It gave us quite a bit of rest and I get that, because I had started every game this season. It almost worked out for us.
"You can see the skill from the Premier League, where one opportunity changes the game. But the boys did well and we can take confidence as we head into the next game.
"Spurs are a good Premier League team and Brighton are a strong Championship side, but they will be a good footballing team as well. They will want to come here and get three points, but we will have other ideas about that."
