Kyel Reid hopes he has delivered a timely reminder that he won’t become City’s forgotten Wembley hero.

The winger has been the odd man out from their promotion party after losing his place to summer capture Mark Yeates.

But he buried any frustration with a stunning free-kick equaliser in his first league start of the campaign at Stevenage.

Reid said: “I’ve been a bit disappointed to be the one change from last season and I was just happy to get my chance.

“I had problems with my groin at the back end of last season and wasn’t 100 per cent fit going into the play-off final.

“But I’ve worked hard throughout the whole summer and every day since the season started to strengthen it and make sure there’s no more trouble.

“I’ve just been making sure I’m on it every day. To get the goal gives the manager something to think about for the next game.

“I told Nahki (Wells) I fancied taking the free-kick. I saw the gap between the keeper and the wall and thought if I could get it over with a bit of pace, there was a fair chance of it going in.”

Reid’s first goal since March rescued a point after City had trailed to Greg Tansey’s penalty. They were second best in the first half but improved dramatically after a rocket from Phil Parkinson.

Reid said: “The gaffer had a go pretty much at everyone because we were sluggish and we all agreed.

“Stevenage are a difficult team to play against because they are quite strong and physical. We had to match that second half and step it up and we did.”

Reid’s opportunity at the Lamex Stadium was the first time Parkinson had changed the starting line-up in five league games.

The City boss said: “Reidy’s been training so well in the last few weeks. He’s scored a lot of goals and looked really sharp.

“On the reverse side, Mark Yeates has had a terrific start for us but he’s had a couple of weeks when he’s missed training.

“In fairness to Reidy, he took his chance. He was committed and his all-round general game was good.

“Nahki has scored lot of goals for us this season but it’s good for us that someone else has got one. It was a top-class free-kick.”

Goalkeeper Connor Ripley’s extended stay at Valley Parade is expected to be sorted today but Parkinson is non-committal about any permanent addition to the squad before the transfer window shuts at 11pm.

He said: “We’ve got one or two things we’re talking about but it might be the week after or the week after that when we bring a loan player in if we need one.”