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When Toyosi Olusanya sat on the bench at Gayfield Park in a defeat to Cove Rangers during a loan spell away from St Mirren - any suggestion he'd be scoring in Europe seemed a million miles away.
To borrow from Only Fools and Horses - set in Peckham in South London where Olusanya grew up - at that point you'd have to be a plonker to predict the striker would have his name in the Conference League scoring charts.
Far from "this time next year, we'll be millionaires" Olusanya could easily have been moving elsewhere with his Arbroath loan not indicative of a European calibre forward.
To his credit though, Olusanya knuckled down after a blunt conversation with Stephen Robinson to go from reserve option to near-enough first-choice striker. He who dares wins, as Delboy would say.
"I had to go away, come back and work harder," said Olusanya of going from a loan away from the club to a history-maker as part of the team recording St Mirren's biggest-ever win in Europe. "It's motivating for me to keep pushing and not just rest on my laurels. I want to keep on trying to improve myself.
"I always had a dream of scoring in a European competition but in my Arbroath days, I was a long, way away. I'm glad to have overcome that step and now I'm here."
Olusanya endured a tough time in front of goal in the first leg against Valur but then netted in the win in Paisley - in the club's first home fixture in Europe in 37 years - all in front of friends who travelled from London, his partner and family glued to their TV screens. Lovely jubbly.
“All of my family and friends were watching," said the striker. "Some of my friends from London came up to watch, my missus was at the game and her family were watching.
“It didn’t feel like I was alone. It felt like I had the right support system around me. Everyone was buzzing for me and I appreciate that. That’s what helps us players, having a good support system and I feel like I have got that.”
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On the key difference from his early struggles to becoming a fan favourite? Simple, confidence.
"I think it was about being more confident in myself and working hard day to day but not trying to overwork and be the hardest worker.
"It was unreal last week. To have a sell-out crowd at home and for myself personally to score in a European game was a dream come true. It was amazing."
Progression in the UEFA Conference League is at the forefront of Olusanya's mind with a potential tie against Astana or CS Corvinul awaiting in the play-off round should the Paisley club overcome Brann.
Olusanya added: "We feel good. The morale is really good and we're just trying to focus on ourselves. We want to take on from the game on Sunday, stay positive and hopefully, the results keep coming.
“We want to set out and play our game and we’ll see how it pans out at the end of the 90 minutes.
“We are all confident, we are all positive and we’re going to play our own game and see where it takes us.”
