Hi everyone. I'm up and about after receiving good news on the injury front and he has been given the all clear to resume training at Blackburn ahead of the new English Premier League season and the all-important World Cup qualifiers that will decide New Zealand’s fate for the 2010 competition in South Africa.

I’m back on the pitch and working hard ahead of a very busy schedule and some vital games, both at Blackburn and also for New Zealand. I’m feeling refreshed after some rest and relaxation, but with the new EPL season around the corner and a big World Cup qualifier on the horizon it will be an important pre-season for me.

Pre-season involves up to three weeks of heavy lifting to build bulk and set up a foundation for the year ahead. Then we have about three weeks of running, usually starting with longer distances before moving into shorter stuff.

It all started on July 1st for us at Blackburn and we headed off to Austria for a week of hell on July 3. It’s always a tough camp for us, especially when the balls stay in the bag!

Obviously the build-up to the new EPL season is very big, but I’m also looking forward to our World Cup qualifier in September against either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia.

I love playing for my country and there hasn’t ever been a bigger qualifier than this, so we need to respect the opposition and make sure we’re ready for the challenge.

My Blackburn teammate Brett Emerton was around recently and said that Bahrain shouldn’t be taken lightly. He played against them with Australia, who has already qualified for the World Cup. Bahrain was in their group for qualification.

We don’t know too much about Saudi Arabia, but over two legs either of these nations will be a quality opponent.

Obviously these are massive games for New Zealand football, we haven’t had a chance like this for over 25 years so we need to make sure we give it a red-hot crack.