It wasn't hard to see the irony when Bristol City striker Nicky Maynard won an award for the Football League's best goal of 2009 last weekend.

Maynard's strike in the 2-1 defeat at Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day was a truly superb effort.

But it is the only goal he has scored since October, giving him a record of just one in 20 matches after a hot start to the campaign when he got ten in 15.

City have slid down the table since then and Maynard knows the Robins must find the net more often to arrest an alarming run.

Tonight they face fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle at Home Park.

"It is nice to get recognised for scoring decent goals but I am disappointed it was my last goal," he said.

"It was Boxing Day and I haven't scored since. Hopefully I can knock all that on the head at Plymouth."

Maynard had an early season knack of crashing home powerful shots from the edge of the box with his right foot.

But he now admits he will take a scrappy goal as soon as possible.

"Any goal will do for me at the moment. I know I am going to get chances and it is just down to taking them," he said.

"If I keep working hard it is going to come sooner rather than later.

"At QPR I remember that we were 2-0 down at the time and chasing the game and that we needed something .

"And then out the blue I just managed to work up a bit of magic and it was nice to see the ball end up in the back of the net after a bit of trickery.

"I was a bit disappointed we didn't get the three points then but it was nice to get recognised."

The BBC's Mark Clemmitt handed over the award at a London ceremony on Sunday.

"It was a good night," said Maynard. "I went with Cole Skuse and it was nerve-racking because there were a lot of decent goals there but I was glad to get the award from Clem."

But Maynard insists he will be focussing only on the Plymouth game from now on, especially after Saturday's dismal 2-0 defeat at Reading.

"That sums up our season at the minute," he said of the match at the Madejski Stadium in which he was substituted at the break.

"We are good one week and not so good another. We need a bit of consistency to move up the table and try to push for a play-off place.

"At the moment we have been inconsistent hence why we are seven points off the play-offs and seven points off relegation.

"Hopefully we can get a good few wins under our belt and push up the table.

"If we knew why we were inconsistent we would be able to knock it on the head.

"It is just about working hard and sticking at it and trying to produce the best we can.

"It has been tough for me the last few games but it is not down to me to score – it is down to the whole team.

"We have got a lot of players who can score goals in our side and it's up to the team to convert the chances.

"The performance against Reading wasn't what we had hoped for but we are going to knuckle down and try to get a result."

Maynard admits it was a blow to see strike partner Chris Iwelumo return to parent club Wolves at the end of his month on loan at Ashton Gate.

"It is a blow but I am sure we have got enough players who can fill in," he added.