Cardiff City hot-shot Kenwyne Jones admits the Championship is a lot more of a physical battle than when he last plied his trade there, but the big striker is proving to be right for the fight.
The 29-year-old Bluebirds man-of-the-moment made it four goals in five outings so far this season as his strike earned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men a hard-fought point at Fulham.
Jones was brought in by Solskjaer from Stoke in January, but struggled to make an impact last term as the Bluebirds dropped out of the top-flight.
This campaign has been very different so far for the Trinidad & Tobago international as he has hit the ground running and helped his side to a reasonable start back in the second flight.
It has been a full decade since Jones was last in the Championship whilst playing for Stoke, when he managed three goals in 13 loan appearances for the Potters.
He said: “It is different in the Championship these days, a bit more straightforward.
“When I played 10 years ago, there was a bit more football involved, but today it’s tougher, there’s a lot more pressure because there’s a bigger price attached on getting to the Premier League.
“It’s a bit tougher, but I don’t believe it’s anything the team can’t cope with.
“Hopefully we can start playing better than we have been.”
Solskjaer and his players will know they can and will have to improve on their showing, particularly after a poor first-half at Craven Cottage.
Jones’ 55th minute equaliser came as a result of one of the few class moves from Solskjaer’s side.
The outstanding Mats Daehli bisected the home defence to put his team-mate through to fire home.
“That was my first chance more or less of the game,” said Jones.
“It fills you with confidence when you can score goals, but a striker is like the icing on a cake."
The former Sunderland and Stoke man added: “The cake itself is made of the ingredients.
“If you aren’t getting service enough to score you won’t score.
“Hopefully our team can keep getting better, more chances can be created and more goals can be scored.
“Against Fulham we could have done better in the first-half, we were a bit flat, but second-half, we came out and picked up the pace, started moving the ball better.”