Lyle Taylor says he feels like he "is a footballer again" as he opened up on his exit from Nottingham Forest.
The striker joined Birmingham City last week on a loan deal until the end of the season having slipped down the pecking order at the City Ground.
Taylor made an immediate impact for the Blues as he scored on his debut in a dramatic 2-2 draw against arch-rivals Derby County on Sunday.
Reds fans are keeping a close eye on how the former Charlton forward gets on with Taylor due to return to the club at the end of the campaign.
And Taylor says he intends to make the most of his switch to St Andrew's.
He told the Birmingham Mail: "It’s strange, I speak to my family and the only way I can put words to it is I actually feel like a footballer again. I am preparing for a game of football.
“Which I haven’t done consistently, or very rarely, for 18 months now, which is disappointing but the only thing I can do is try and do my job and help this team in the best way I know how.
“That’s with experience, a little bit of nous and know-how and hopefully a few more goals.
“It’s hard, it’s a side of football a lot of people don’t see – and don’t care to see if we are being honest.
“I haven’t played games consistently at Forest. Whose fault is that? I wouldn’t say it’s the club’s fault, I wouldn’t say it’s my fault, it’s the outcomes of a set of circumstances.
“The team wasn’t playing that well, I was playing out of necessity because there was a massive Covid outbreak in the squad and we have very few players fit or otherwise.
“Then when the new manager came in he picked a team, the team started well, scoring goals and winning games and ultimately I wasn’t in that team.
“What can I do? I could only push as hard as I was pushing in training. If you ask the manager he will tell you I was one of the better players on the training field every day but it is one of those things.
“If you are not playing or not playing consistently you are not going to be able to do your job, or do your job very well.
“I am not going to sit here and blame the manager or blame anyone because one – what’s the point? And two, there’s no need to apportion blame. It is what it is, that’s football, you have got a squad of 25 players and only 11 or 14 can play any one week.
“I have got a year left on my contract so I am not worried about next year, I am not thinking about next year, that’s not even in my thought process.
“I am here to do my bit for this team, play my part this team’s season and that’s all I’m worried about is the next game, Sheffield United. Let’s go and try and win that game, there’s three points to be had, let’s see where we can go.”
On his goal against Derby which won him plenty of acclaim from Forest fans due to their rivalry, Taylor said he hopes the Rams survive their current crisis: "It [scoring on his debut] was kind of written.
“With the way things are here - and I hope to God this football club survives because we don’t need any more of that happening in English football, any more clubs going under to anything like that.
“From a Derby point of view it was also kind of written they would stage some kind of fight back when they are backed by 32,500 people.
“The whole thing was kind of scripted in a weird way by the footballing gods.”
