ZAT Knight was in a party mood after his first goal for Wanderers came gift-wrapped at the Reebok.

The big defender was on hand to tap in from six yards after a wonderful piece of skill from Chung-Yong Lee on the touchline.

It was the first time he had hit the back of the net since signing from Aston Villa in the summer — and the timing could not have been more perfect in more ways than one.

“I think that has been long overdue,” he said.

“Before all the recent games the lads have said it was about time I scored, so it was nice to get the winner. It’s very special to score my first goal for the club and it’s also my son’s birthday today, which is a nice present for him.”

A fifth clean sheet in 12 league and cup games since Owen Coyle’s arrival as manager ensured that Knight’s strike proved decisive.

It also ended a barren goalscoring run that had become a major concern at the Reebok. So with that particular monkey now off Wanderers’ back, the centre half has pinpointed the next three games as the right time to finally find some consistency.

“Getting three points was important,” he said. “Although our home form has been good, it has been frustrating not to have scored as many goals as we would have liked.

“We’ve got a big win now and we need that to continue. We’ve got 11 more games and they are all cup finals.

“The games against West Ham, Sunderland and Wigan are massive and we need to capitalise on our win.”