At the age of 26 and arguably in his prime years, Max O'Leary knew he couldn't afford another season of warming the Bristol City substitute bench.
The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper endured a frustrating last campaign as he was forced to bide his time and wait for his opportunity as Nigel Pearson's No2 behind Dan Bentley. Just before the New Year, he was finally handed his chance in the league in a 2-1 defeat against Queens Park Rangers.
O'Leary then started the next eight consecutive matches as he looked to cement his place as the first choice between the sticks before he was forced off with an injury in the 3-1 defeat at Swansea in February. Little did he know at the time, he would need to wait eight months for a recall.
"It was hard, it happens," said O'Leary, who made his first appearance in a City matchday squad as an unused substitute nine years ago. "It was the first time I've had an injury and come out of the team. Yea it was frustrating and you have to work hard every day.
"Trying to get back in the team is not easy, especially when you've got players like Bents (Dan Bentley) there and Stefan (Bajic) too so it's good competition and it's healthy. We drive each other every day but it was tough trying to get back in."
Following a 3-0 defeat away at Birmingham, where City conceded three set-pieces, Pearson made the call to drop club captain Bentley in favour of O'Leary. In his seven league appearances, City's academy product has emerged as one of the most consistent players in the squad.
There's little doubt he has improved from last season and that's a credit to his mentality and the faith put in him by the manager. In his nine matches last season, he conceded 20 goals. This time around, he's shipped in eight in seven games despite City's difficult run of form.
"(I've been) Steady. It's what I want to be, to try and be consistent," he added. "The manager talks about reliability and being consistent and putting in those solid performances.
"You don't want to be too high or too low so just try and be consistent and keep going. It's just trying to be positive all round and see if I could influence the game in any way that I can help out whether it's a back four or back five.
"I'm trying to be positive and not worry about making mistakes. If you make mistakes in a positive way, it's going to happen so it's about trying to minimise those by being positive."
City are now reaping the rewards of his patience. His performance at Middlesbrough in the 1-1 draw last weekend was one of his best in a City shirt although he may argue his showing against Aston Villa in 2019 would also be up there.
Having come through the youth ranks, O'Leary has made five different loans across the leagues in a bid to become City's No1. Heading into the summer and with the arrival of Stefan Bajic, his position in the side looked ominous.
Knowing he needed first-team football, he went to Pearson to speak about his immediate future where the manager reassured him of his importance to the squad.
He added: "I spoke to the manager over the summer and he agreed with me that I needed to play games. He wanted me here so I just tried to push as hard as I can and obviously, I came in a few games ago and I just needed to get out and play football.
"The last few years I haven't played much football. Of course, it was tough after Covid to have that availability to go out on loan. Realistically I probably would have done another one after Shrewsbury but it didn't happen so it's just the way it was.
"This year was all about trying to play as much as I can and more than that, to try and contribute to the team."
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