Perth Glory midfielder Steven McGarry is hopeful he's put a frustrating opening to the season behind him as he looks to establish himself in the side.
The 32-year-old midfielder, who previously played with Scottish Premier League outfit Motherwell before his move to Perth in January 2010, has endured a difficult campaign so far, making nine appearances for the Glory as a substitute over the season's first 12 weeks.
But his hard work and a heart-to-heart chat with Glory coach Ian Ferguson has paid off, as McGarry has started in the last three matches, a run of games where the Glory have gone unbeaten, heading into Sunday's clash with Melbourne Heart.
And, the timing couldn't be better as McGarry comes out of contract at the end of this season.
"I'm delighted to be back in the team," said McGarry on Wednesday morning before training.
"It's been frustrating not being out there and not getting results and the manager will tell you, I went in, chapped (Scottish slang for knocked) his door."
"I wasn't a happy chappy, I want to play every game, I want to be involved. I wanted to earn my money and I eventually got my chance."
"I was desperate to get out there, frustrated. I was angry and I wanted to go and show the manager, like go and do a job for him, that he could trust me."
"He was willing to listen to what I had to say and we had a good chat and him and Stuart (assistant Stuart Munro) had a few things to say, I had a few things to say, but it was all good, it was all positive."
"I felt a lot better coming out of the meeting and it was basically a week after that when I got in, so it worked pretty well."
McGarry said that playing a more advanced role supporting the striker, as he did earlier in his career in Scotland, seemed to have been the key to his lift in form.
"I used to be a striker and then when I moved to Motherwell, I dropped a little bit deeper, say No.10 or just behind the striker and then I got moved back to a more central midfield (position)," he explained.
"So when I first signed up, Mitch (former Glory coach David Mitchell) had plans of me just playing the attacking midfield and supporting the striker, but for some reason it never worked out."
"But yeah, I'm enjoying it, and I'm all about getting forward and getting a few goals and I've scored one and I think I'm getting in a lot more positions to get goals as well."
"I enjoy scoring and I enjoy creating so it's been pretty good."
In other Glory news, captain Jacob Burns is still batting an upper thigh injury and may be in some doubt for this week's trip to AAMI Park after receiving a knock to the area from Wellington captain Andrew Durante during last week's 1-0 win for Perth at Westpac Stadium.