ALTHOUGH he has sympathy for his injured team-mate, Ian Miller admits that Shaun Pearson's absence presents him with a great opportunity to stake his claim in the Grimsby Town team.
With Pearson ruled out, the 28-year-old was recalled to the Town side for the game against AFC Telford on Saturday.
And he took full advantage by putting in a composed performance alongside Nathan Pond and scoring the winning goal on his first appearance in a black and white shirt this season.
And now that he's in the side, he's set his sights on staying there after a frustrating start to his season.
"It was great to get back playing again" he said. "I'd be lying if I didn't say that it has been massively frustrating not playing. I became a professional footballer to be playing week-in week-out and it's difficult when you're not.
"But I know that there is only one person who can sort that so I know that I needed to get my head down and work hard and making sure that when the opportunity came, I took it.
"With Shaun being out, it's definitely an opportunity for me to stake my claim. His partnership with (Nathan Pond) Pondy has been exceptional but, them playing week-in week-out isn't going to pay my mortgage, as ruthless as it sounds.
"I'm good mates with both of them and I wouldn't wish anything on either of them but I just want to play football and if that means that my opportunity to do that comes because of Shaun's injury then it's down to me to come in and do my best and see what happens from there."
Miller's goal, and the three points that it won, moved the Mariners up to fourth in the Blue Square Bet Premier, six points off leaders Newport.
And while he was naturally pleased with his first goal – only his second ever for Town – he was happier to see his side climb the table as a result of the victory.
He said: "Considering that I've only played one reserve game all season, I think I did okay against Telford.
"You don't see both centre-halves scoring that often but we did on Saturday.
"I've never been a prolific centre-half but it is nice when they drop to you like they did on Saturday. I don't score many with my feet but I have to say it was cultured!" he joked.
"At the end of the day, I know it's a cliché but the main thing is that we got the win.
"Telford are a good side and they could have gone level with us if they'd had won so it was good to put a bit of daylight between us and the teams that were in and around us."
