JON-PAUL Pittman has made a sprint start to his second stab in the Football League after previously being at Nottingham Forest and Doncaster before dropping down.

He was Man of the Match on his debut at Bradford on Saturday where he had one cleared off the line, had a cast-iron penalty denied and saw an overhead kick drop just wide.

But he got the goal he deserved at Dagenham, turning his marker before racing away to despatch a crisp finish into the back of the net.

He said: “I’m buzzing to get my first goal for Wycombe. It proves to me that I can do it at this level.

“It is a big step-up. I needed to prove to myself that I deserve to be here and I feel an obligation to show people what Peter Taylor saw in me and to pay him back.

“I think I am doing that. I’ve got one goal in two games and I’d love to carry that on but, at the moment, all I’m looking at is keeping the shirt and doing my bit for the team.”

His 50th-minute winner on Tuesday was Pittman’s second league goal having scored for Bury when he was on loan there three years ago before dropping into the Blue Square Premier League with Crawley.

He said: “It’s been a long while since I scored at this level and I am so excited.

“Dropping down really helped me. I had chances to go on trial at other League clubs but I made the choice to drop down and I think it did me good.

“A lot of my friends and family were advising me against it but going to Crawley really helped me. I scored a few goals, I was a fans’ favourite and it got my confidence up. I developed a little bit of arrogance which I needed.”