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Benik Afobe was unnecessarily hard on himself after his debut against Birmingham. Thrust into the Bristol City starting XI just under 48 hours after his surprise arrival on deadline day, he was so new to the club it wasn't clear exactly what shirt number he'd be wearing.

During the game, playing with teammates he had only known for a day, he showed signs of what he can bring to the Robins in terms of his power and movement and a will to play on the shoulders of defenders; a style which saw him earn two "glorious chances", as he put it.

However, neither could be taken and returning to his hotel room in Bristol, he reflected on the missed opportunities only to receive a text message from head coach Lee Johnson, "listen, the next one will go in".

Indeed the next one did go in, as Afobe, having dreamt about the moment the night before, marked his home debut for City at Ashton Gate with the game-sealing goal as they beat QPR 2-0.

It was notable that after celebrating his goal in front of the south Stand he turned and looked to Johnson, stood on the nearest corner of his technical area, and both simultaneously fist-pumped in celebration at each other.

Already in 180 minutes of football for the Robins, Afobe looks a totally different character from the striker who Stoke paid £12m to fire them back into the Premier League only to witness a season of struggle and suffering.

"There's been a notable difference in the last two weeks to be fair," Afobe said .

"I think I'm one of those players who play much better when they're confident, when they're smiling. And the manager has helped me a lot. He's brought me here, people probably would have questioned him bringing me here. But he has faith in me.

(Image: Robbie Stephenson/JMP)

"And not just the manager, I speak to a lot of the staff and my teammates and they're helping me a lot settle in and I feel like the old me.

"I want to be confident, I want to be smiling. I'm not at my best when I'm thinking about things too much or questioning things. So I'm just believing in myself, believing in my teammates and hopefully we can have a good season.

"I've found a place quite quickly for my family and I'm going to be moving in next week after the Derby game so that's not a problem and I can concentrate on football."

Earning man-of-the match honours for his performance on Saturday, Afobe proudly delivered his award to his dad Angy who was proudly watching from the stands and speaking after the game revealed an individual who seems to have had the weight of the world taken off his back.

At Stoke there was pressure to succeed, to score 20+ goals in a system which didn't suit his direct style of operating on the fringes of the backline and then darting into space.

As he showed consistently against QPR, Afobe is always on the move, with and without the ball, and gradually game by game, his new teammates will begin to understand and telegraph his runs.

"For any centre-forward they want to score goals, whether it's League Two or the Champions League final and I'm no different, but most importantly I'm a team player and I want to be part of something good here," he added, delighted with the Seven Nation Army chant which rung out in his honour throughout Saturday afternoon.

"Nothing against Stoke, I've made good friends there. I just felt I needed to play for a team that plays a football more suited to my style. Again, that's nothing against Stoke.

"Bristol City are a perfect fit for me but I also think I'm a perfect fit for Bristol City.

"We try to get it forward as quickly as possible. We try to be patient with the ball as well but the manager has a philosophy of trying to create chances for forwards and that's my game.

"I want to be around it. I don't want to go 20-30 minutes when I'm not involved and playing the ball in behind is my strength. When I go through 1v1 with the keeper.

"I know against Birmingham I missed two glorious chances and the manager text me and said, 'listen the next one is going in'. And the next one did!"

His goal highlighted his growing understanding with one teammate in particular. Knowing Andi Weimann's intense and relentless work rate he forecast the Austrian closing down QPR goalkeeper Joe Lumley and hung back, hoping it could lead to an opportunity which he so gloriously took.

One other teammate he's grown close to, and will be important moving forward given his creativity and love of a through ball, is Kasey Palmer having shared time in a hotel together last week after signing.

The two made a point of celebrating together after Afobe's goal on Saturday with some dance moves, honed during FIFA sessions with Palmer on the decks. Although, with Palmer a harsh taskmaster, it still needs some work.

"We've been in the hotel together so we've been playing a lot of FIFA and listening to music in the background," Afobe revealed. "Sometimes Kasey likes a little dance and, to be fair to him, he's a good DJ.

(Image: Rogan/JMP)

"I like a dance as well so he said to me if one of us scores lets go and do our little two-step.

"He's getting onto to me now because I didn't do it facing the right way so we haven't got the right pictures for it!

"We played two nights, he won the first night, I won the second night. We'll have to see who takes the decider."

Everything Afobe says is with a smile, admittedly that comes with scoring and winning man of the match on your home debut, but it's a huge departure from his time at Stoke when he was ridden with self-doubt and that transferred onto the field.

New surroundings, a more pleasing style of play and teammates he's instantly connected with has helped but it's also the role Johnson has given him in the squad, a level of responsibility beyond just putting the ball in the back of the net.

Afobe was one of 12 signings over the summer with key dressing room figures Marlon Pack, Jamie Paterson and Adam Webster departing and Johnson wants Afobe to be one of his new leaders.

"The manager wants to get the best out of me. Not just me but all the players. It's quite a young team, we haven't got the most experience in the league so, even at the age of 26, I'm one of the most experienced players in the squad," he said.

"He just wants me to bring that experience; talking to the players when things are not going so good. But it's going to be a team effort, a squad effort.

"Hopefully we can keep winning games, there's still 43 to go so we're not going to get carried away but we'll enjoy this and then go again against Derby on Tuesday."