Often it's the moments you most want to forget that you are remembered for most, so I suspect Cardiff City's Robert Earnshaw had better get used to being reminded of his now infamous miss against England last week. He'll join Chris Iwelumo, Ronnie Rosenthal and Scott Carson in the kind of club all of them would rather not be members of.

That said it was great to see Earnie bounce back with an important goal for his club at the weekend. All the best strikers are capable of forgetting about the misses and he appears to be that type of character.
Of all the guys I played with, Darren Bent is the one that stands out most when it came to being thick skinned about misses.

He'd shrug them off easily and never let it affect him. Sometimes Benty would fail to take six chances in a row and then score with the seventh because he never lost faith in his ability. That's a clear sign of a top class forward and at npower Championship level Robert Earnshaw is most certainly that.

Another striker that grabbed the headlines this week was Birmingham City's Chris Wood. He's on loan from West Bromwich Albion and looks to be a very astute signing by Chris Hughton, as his hat-trick on Sunday afternoon against Millwall proved. He's only 19 but is a big, powerful lad with an eye for goal, so look out for him as the weeks and months go by.

Another fine loan signing is Henri Lansbury, who has joined West Ham United from Arsenal. Not only did he score on his Hammers debut against Portsmouth at the weekend but he also made a terrific impact on everyone around him with his positive attitude.

Henri is a talented midfielder but he also plays with passion and that's what the West Ham fans want to see. They can be a demanding bunch - and will be especially so this season - but all they really expect is 100 per cent effort and determination and he is the kind of player they will take to their hearts.

Carlton Cole scored once more for the Hammers and much will also be expected of him at Upton Park this term. There was a fear that he would be sold to Galatasaray last week but it never materialised so he must knuckle down now and provide the goals to match his undoubted talent. For a player of Carlton Cole's ability to have a goalscoring record of just one in every five matches is a tad disappointing so Big Sam will demand that he improves on that ratio this term.

Now that West Ham have secured the win they needed in front of their home faithful I expect them to push on. Their squad is strong enough to maintain a promotion challenge, so it would a huge surprise to me if they failed to do it.

Southampton are a side they must overhaul first though and that's a task that is easier said than done! The Saints have won 12 successive home matches and even though it will be infinitely harder to build on that run for much longer in the npower Championship, there is no doubt that opposition clubs see a trip to the south coast as one of the toughest they will face all season.

I played at St Mary's a few times and always enjoyed the atmosphere. The fans really get behind their team if they are playing well and can be pretty intimidating. If Nigel Adkins' men keep up their form there will be a few sleepless nights for the visiting teams.

I know that Adkins took over at a great time, inheriting Alan Pardew's promising squad but you have to say he's hardly put a foot wrong. He's got them well organised, spirited and playing some seriously attractive football too.

The fans love to sing 'The Saints go marching on' and right now it's difficult to see anything other than that happening for Southampton.