YORK City striker Andy Bishop has returned from goalscoring international duty determined to fire his team back up the Conference table.
Bishop scored the England National Game XI's first goal in Tuesday night's 2-0 victory over a Belgian Under-21 side and is now hoping to get back on the scoresheet at his former club Kidderminster Harriers tomorrow (3pm).
The Minstermen failed to score in back-to-back games for the first time this season after firing blanks in their last two outings against Grays Athletic and Burton Albion.
But Bishop believes it is only a matter of time before Billy McEwan's men hit the back of the net again and would love to add to his ten-goal tally this season against Kidderminster 'keeper and good friend John Danby.
The 23-year-old striker said: "I definitely think we will start scoring again. There are always going to be a couple of games when you don't but the service we have had all season has been excellent.
"It's been free-flowing football and I feel Clayton (Donaldson) and I have worked well off each other and Joe (O'Neill) has held the ball up well and chipped in with a few goals as well."
Should Bishop find the net tomorrow it will not be the first time he has been on the scoresheet in a Kidderminster v York fixture but it will be the first time he will have scored for the visiting team.
The former Walsall striker scored on his home debut for the Harriers against the Minstermen during a 2-1 defeat back in December 2002.
He remembers the goal well - not least for the reaction of the visiting supporters, saying: "I ran on to a long through ball and went through one-on-one before shooting past Alan Fettis and getting quite a lot of abuse from the York fans."
Bishop enjoyed two loan spells at Kidderminster, scoring seven goals in 30 starts, and counts current players Danby, Daryl Burgess and Martin O'Connor as pals.
City's leading marksman has also watched his former team-mates in action this season and is expecting a difficult encounter.
He said: "I'm really looking forward to the match. I made my League debut there and it's a really good, little club.
"I'm good friends with John Danby but it would be great to score past him. I think it will be a really tough game though because we need to get back on track and they aren't doing as well as they thought."
Bishop travelled back to England on Wednesday night with the under-23 non-League squad having met up on Sunday night, travelled to Belgium the following morning and took part in one training session on the day of the Tuesday night game.
He returns to the City side as the club's first player to score for his country and admitted it was a special moment.
"It felt really good," he said. "The 'keeper parried a shot and I beat their defenders to the ball to put it in from about six yards. I also hit the bar and had a couple of chances saved so I was pleased with my performance.
"The trip was a good experience all round because they were a strong side, above Conference standard, but we played really well not like a team that had just been assembled for the first time together."
Updated: 10:53 Friday, November 18, 2005
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article