Fulham defender Aaron Hughes recently celebrated arguably the best season of his career but the Northern Ireland skipper has revealed he feared hewould never get the chance to prove his worth at Fulham.
Together with defensive partner Brede Hangeland, Hughes played a huge role in an historic season at Craven Cottage.
Just a year after avoiding relegation to the Championship on a dramatic final day, the Londoners finished seventh the best top flight finish in the clubs 130-year history as well as securing a place in the inaugural Europa League.
For Hughes however, an almost perfect season could have been so very different when Roy Hodgson took over from former Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez in December 2007.
The former Aston Villa and Newcastle United defender was Sanchezs first signing and was quickly joined by international team-mates David Healy, Steven Davis and Chris Baird but a disappointing season followed even after a change of manager
Davis and Healy moved on while Baird struggled to make an impression but Hughes is now one of the first names on the team sheet. However, when Roy Hodgson came in, changes inevitably took place, and with the majority of Sanchezs signings moving on, Aaron was concerned for his place.
I was definitely worried, admitted Hughes. Its natural that a new manager would want to make changes and a lot of the players that I came in with have now moved on. You just dont know what a new managers plans are and he will always want to bring in his own players. It was a concern, but all I could do was what Roy asked and show I could fit into his plans.
With fifteen clean sheets and a mere 34 league goals conceded, their record was the best outside of the top four and Hughes played in all but 26 minutes of the League campaign.
Northern Ireland fans have always worshiped the unassuming 29-year old but his stunning season went almost un-noticed by anyone outside the Cottagers.
He added: Im not too bothered about not getting the attention. Its always nice to hear good things said about you, but its not the be all and end all.
As long as the manager, my team-mates and the fans are happy with what I am doing then thats the main thing.
You can never change what people think about you, good or bad. All you can do is go out onto the football pitch and perform to the best of your capabilities. I just like to get on with the job.
A lot has also been said about my partnership with Brede, and I dont really have a reason to why it has worked so well it just has. In football that is quite often the way.
While European football will come to Craven Cottage for only the second time, Hughes isnt ready to get carried away by the clubs new-found success.
He has paid tribute to the leadership qualities of former Inter Milan boss, Hodgson however, who has dramatically improved the fortunes of Fulham since taking over from Sanchez and decided to play the Cookstown man in his favoured position in the centre of defence.
I think it is important to not get too carried away, added Hughes, who made his Newcastle debut in a Champions League clash against Barcelona at the Nou Camp just weeks after his 18th birthday in 1997.
Dont get me wrong, it has been a great season and a very important one for the club and the fans, but football is a game where anything can happen. Our goals will remain the same and that is to carry on working hard and making sure, as a team, we are prepared and at the top of our game.
I think I speak for a lot of the players here when I say the signs were there from when Roy came in last January. Straight away we became a lot more organised, more compact and slowly but surely we were began to make more and more progress.
Im almost 30, and Ive been in the game a while now. But hes still teaching me new things and I feel like Im constantly learning. In the 18 months that I have worked with him, I have improved more than any other 18-month period in my whole career.
I think that season is up there with my best. Im very pleased with the season on a personal level as well, it was a good one.
Roy decided to move me back into the centre and that has definitely helped. I have always thought that centre-half was my best position; its where I feel most comfortable.