Dann relishing return to action.

Byline: Andy Walker 

SCOTT Dann is delighted to have taken another giant step towards reaching his peak for Blues.

The centre-back was rushed back into action at Hull last weekend due to an injury crisis, after his own summer full of frustrating niggles.

And Dann followed up his 90 minutes at the KC Stadium by playing the whole of Tuesday night's Carling Cup defeat at Sunderland.

Despite having previously only played two brief bouts of reserve team football this time last week, Dann has put in two extremely encouraging displays.

And the summer signing from Coventry is appreciating every first-team minute under his belt.

"It's good to be back and playing again," said Dann.

"I need as many minutes under my belt as possible because obviously I haven't played much in the last couple of months.

"I came back sooner than expected at Hull on Saturday but I'm delighted to be playing. But there's still a lot more to come from me. The more games I play the better I'll get.

"I'm clear of injury, it's just about the match fitness now. I just want to keep on playing and getting myself in the team.

''I never played many games during pre-season, then I played two 45s for the reserves and 90 on Saturday and Tuesday.

"I don't think you can put a figure on the amount of matches it will take for me to reach my best, it's just about getting your match sharpness back.

"I'm fit enough to get through a game but it's still about getting back into the swing of things. Then I can get back to my best sooner rather than later for my sake and the team's sake."

Dann was in the same boat as Roger Johnson when he arrived at Blues during the summer.

Both centre-halves arrived with a glowing reports from the Championship and both were out to prove themselves as Premier League players.

However, the Liverpudlian has watched Johnson become an instant St Andrew's hero with sterling displays in the heart of defence, while being forced to sit on the sidelines with a groin injury.

"Roger has been good for us, he's performed well and I think he's took to the Premier League well and hopefully he can keep that up," said Dann.

"Although he's a couple of years older than me, we've both worked our way up through the leagues from the bottom.

"Hopefully we can get all the injured players back as soon as we can. Everyone is going to want to play and you've just got to do your best to stay in the team.

"The more competition there is the better you play yourself, it brings the best out of you."

CAPTION(S):

Good to be back: Scott Dann gets in the thick of the action during the game against Hull and insists his best his yet to come.