Jay Spearing believes his patience has paid off at Liverpool after earning a run in the first team this term.
The 22-year-old was reduced to a bit-part player at Anfield under previous managers Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson and started just three games last season.
Now with Kenny Dalglish at the helm Spearing has been given a new lease of life and is set to make his 12th start of the season against Birmingham on Saturday.
Happy to have a foot firmly in the first-team door, the combative midfielder is keen to seize the opportunity after his hard work paid dividends.
"I have had to be patient for two or three years now and different managers have given me different opportunities," he told the Daily Star.
"I used to come in and then be out the next week. At that time I wanted to nail a position down as much as possible.
"It didn't happen for me then. But thankfully, now it has and I just have to keep it going and make the most of my chances."
With first-team openings few and far between last term Spearing was forced to venture out on loan in search of games, landing at Championship side Leicester.
Despite loving his time at the Walkers Stadium, the player was forced to admit he may have to drop down a division on a permanent basis.
He added: "I hadn't played as much as I would have liked, so I went to Leicester, played some games and loved every minute of it.
"We were lucky enough to get into the play-offs. I knew that if I kept grafting and kept showing different managers that I wanted it, one day it would come for me.
"It was hard. There were times when I thought to myself, 'What's going on? Am I going to break through at Liverpool?'
"It is something I have been wanting to do for four or five years, not just this season, and there have been times when I thought I might have to look elsewhere.
"It is one of those things when you need the support of family and friends to keep you going and I believed in myself and knew at some point if I kept going it would come."
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