Goalscorers Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra celebrate

Striker Michael Chopra says he is back to his best after scoring twice in Cardiff's 4-0 win over Scunthorpe.

Chopra, 25, marked his permanent return to Cardiff by scoring twice against the Championship newcomers.

"I've had a lot of problems in the past and things like that, but I've got to put that to one side when I step on the football pitch," he said.

"Scoring goals makes me happy and as you can see today, I was back to my best with what I can do."

Chopra initially joined Cardiff in the summer of 2006, but was sold to Sunderland a year later for £5m after scoring 22 goals in 42 league appearances.

But he returned to the Bluebirds for two loan spells last season before completing his permanent return in the summer for £4m.

Chopra's goals could not stop Cardiff from blowing a golden opportunity to win promotion to the Premier League last season when they missed out on the play-offs altogether after being in with a shout of automatic promotion with four games to go.

But he says his goals, along with one each from Jay Bothroyd and Peter Whittingham in the opening day win over Scunthorpe, has helped erase those memories.

"It's a fantastic start," said Chopra. "All the lads have put the disappointment of what happened last season behind us.

"We knew if we wanted to push on a bit this season, we had to get off to a good start and we couldn't wish for anything better.

"It's just a shame that I couldn't get a hat-trick."

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