Coventry City winger Michael McIndoe has vowed to fight for his place in the Sky Blues team rather than go on loan to another club.
McIndoe was subjected to enquiries from Doncaster and Southampton before the transfer window closed, but he said to the CT: "I'd rather be here if I am being honest. I have moved seven times in eight years so there will always be rumours about me and things going off, but it is important for me to work hard because I don't like being unsettled and the way I have felt over the last month."
"Any player will tell you that to feel settled and part of things you have to be playing your best football and I think the manager has done well with that. I have had a good chat with him and to be fair he has been fantastic with me. He has been honest and up front and that's all you can ask."
"It is easy for me to stay focused and ready for when I am needed because I love football. It is just nice to be training with the match day squad again and I have been like a kid in a candy shop, running round like a headless chicken because I am so happy to be playing again."
McIndoe replaced Gary McSheffrey in the first half of Saturday's game against Leicester and supplied the pass for Clive Platt to head home the opening goal.
Unfortunately for McIndoe, his comeback for City might be short lived as he tweaked a hamstring late on in in the game on Saturday and joins an increasingly long casualty list at Coventry.
McIndoe said: "I am just happy to be back on the football pitch. I didn't plan on playing as long as I did but hopefully the little hamstring I picked up will disappear after a few days and I can go again."
"I will have to see how I am ahead of the Swansea game but I couldn't move in the last five minutes of my first game so I am going to be a little bit rusty, but I have been working hard to try to keep myself strong and fit."
When asked if he thought he had a future at Coventry he replied, "Yes but it is one of those where sometimes you have to earn your place. You have ups and downs now and again but it is all about character."
"I have always been good at bouncing back and when things aren't going the way you want them to you have to make them go your way and work hard every single time. There have been a number of factors and, for me, I have got to put that to bed and get my head down and work hard to earn the right to get back into this football side, which is what I am all about."
"I am as hungry as ever and I see this last month as a positive because I have obviously not been playing but there have been other things outside of football and politics that are important to certain people, but it is important for myself to knuckle down and get back in the team. It has happened before in my career when I have thought I might be leaving but I have got to get my head down and work hard for Coventry City who employ me now."
McIndoe is one of seven injury worries for Aidy Boothroyd as he takes his side to Swansea tonight. Marlon King will also be missing from tonights game as he still hasn't signed a deal.
The other six players currently receiving treatment are Gary McSheffrey and David Bell with hamstring problems, Freddy Eastwood (knee), Martin Cranie (ankle), Chris Hussey (foot) and Lukas Jutkiewicz who was replaced on Saturday after limping off with a knock.
Picture copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/SB