Forde stakes his claim

While his former club wrestles with the task of filling the boots he vacated when he left Derry City at the end of last year, David Forde continues to make solid progress at Cardiff City where he is busily staking a claim to become the Welsh side's number-one goalkeeper.

The Galwayman was effectively signed by City as cover for first-choice goalkeeper Neil Alexander but in the wake of a mistake by his rival during the recent league game against Sunderland, Forde has become a first team regular of late, a status he aims to retain in the increasingly likely event that Scottish international Alexander moves on over the summer.

"I've just come into the side so it's been like the start of the season for me," says the Irishman. "I just want to make a big impression and show the manager what I can do. I know there's a lot left in me to come."

Forde's performances have not quite been what he would have wanted so far. On his debut for the club in February he conceded once but City still coasted to an impressive 4-1 win over Preston.

More recently, though, he has been beaten five times in a run of games that has yielded just a point for a side that led the Championship earlier in the season but now look virtually certain to miss out even on the play-off places.

"I'm feeling good at the moment," says the 27 year-old. "To play the last three games has been great for me personally. Sometimes as a 'keeper you need a few games under your belt to find your feet and to get to know the players. I feel it's gradually coming together and I know there's a lot more in me.

"I'm just going to play as well as I can and hopefully we'll get three wins in our next three games. You never know where that may take us.

"And we can't take our foot off the gas anyway because the management are looking, and they see everything. You have to be on the ball to keep your place, so we'll keep going."