It’s great to be back playing football in England after playing in Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

I have had a wonderful football experience over the last six years, playing in front of some massive crowds and alongside good players and also a life experience.

My daughter was born in Hong Kong and my son was born in Malaysia. I played in some different leagues and that was great but it is great to be back. I missed English football. I am covered in lumps and bruises now, which is what it is all about, that is what I missed. The leagues over there aren’t as physical but the players are probably technically better.

It is good for football and lifestyle, for many things, but England is the home of football and wherever I went in Asia, the Premier League was shown. It is beamed everywhere. It’s a different style of play over there with a slow build-up and then all of a sudden an injection of pace and technical ability.

It is a bit more direct here, especially when you go to your Swindons and Burys. But it is great to be back.

I had been training in Malaysia and was close to signing for another club, in another country but I couldn’t agree terms and I decided it was time to go back. Six years away is a long time and if I left it any later, it might be too late.

I had a couple of options but would like to thank Ady and Gillingham for giving me the opportunity and showing faith in me. Hopefully, I can repay that by helping us stay up.

We’re in a battle and that is what I signed up for. I knew what the situation was when I came here – I haven’t arrived with the blinkers on.

It is clear it is a relegation battle and we need to win some games. We have won one out of two and I take the positives out of that and look forward to the next one at Bury.

I have been in this situation a few times. At Fulham, in the 2004/05 season, I got into the side and we avoided relegation and at QPR, in the Championship back in 2007, we were bottom and we went on a good run and finished near the middle.

In situations like this you can’t get too downbeat after a defeat or too carried away when you’ve won one. You need to keep the middle ground.

We have to learn from Tuesday’s defeat at Swindon, dust ourselves down and get ready for a tough game. The way to get through these relegation battles is to not feel sorry for ourselves and dwell on it. It’s a massive fight we’re up against.

Read the full column in this Friday's Medway Messenger