Cristian Montano was handed his first start in Sky Bet League Two since October at Lincoln City on Saturday following a spell on the sidelines through injury.
After signing from Bristol Rovers in the summer, the winger has found life tough and he has spent recent weeks nursing himself back to full fitness.
Now with 90 minutes under his belt, he is delighted to be back playing football and he will be hoping that his injury problems are behind him.
He said: “It was important for me to get a start to help my confidence, especially given the fact I played the full 90 minutes.
“Getting that in the league was a big thing for myself as it’s something I haven’t done for a while, it has been a long time.
“Hopefully I can stay fit now and I want more of that, but it’s down to the coaching staff and also myself on the training ground.”
Reflecting on just how difficult it has been over the recent months, Montano added: “It has been frustrating because I had a good pre-season and a week before the season started, I picked up a niggle in my hamstring.
“It got worse as time went on and as much as I wanted to play, it pulled me back for two months. It’s something I didn’t want, nobody ever wants to be injured.
“I’ve been staying strong and now I’m just focused on getting match fitness. I feel fitter every day and I’ll stick to the programme that I’ve been doing before and after training, strengthening my hamstring.”
When Neil Aspin was appointed as manager back in October, Montano was injured and that meant that he was unable to make an impression immediately.
“It was hard because the new boss came in and he wasn’t seeing much of me as I was out,” the winger said.
“He was watching games before he came in and he was looking at the other players while I was in the gym.
“I had to stay focused on getting fit and then being able to get out on the pitch and show him what I’m capable of doing in training when I had the opportunity.
“Thankfully he gave me a start on Saturday. It wasn’t the best result, but it was good for myself and hopefully this weekend we can put things right.”