Dipo Akinyemi insists he's living proof that doors will eventually open if you keep knocking them down hard enough.
The striker's CV was rammed with clubs after a nomadic career in England's non-league when Ayr United came calling last summer.
Off the back of an electric season with Welling United, Akinyemi was the man entrusted with filling the boots of Tomi Adeloye at Somerset Park.
Both club and player knew the move came with an element of risk - both relative unknown quantities to each other - but after a blistering debut year, Akinyemi has proven to be one of the finds of the season north of the border.
A January bid of £250,000 rejected, Ayr's refusal to blink has paid off with Akinyemi's stock continuing to soar and the club reaching the promised land of the promotion play-offs.
For 25-year-old Akineymi, who was today named the cinch Championship Player of the Season, it is rich reward for the man who packed up he and his family's life to take the gamble of his playing career.
He told the Ayrshire Post: "You always want to believe that your time in the game will come. I had to show patience...I went on plenty of loan spells and they made me the player I am today.
"There are plenty of players who are in and around my age who think they are in exile playing in the National League. At Dulwitch Hamlet I used to play with Ethan Pinnock and he's gone on to the Premier League with Brentford.
"So there's always a belief there that if you do things professionally you will get the rewards eventually. It's about how you apply yourself and your own personal mentality.
"I've always believed there would be a chance for me in this game if I did things the right way. For me as a striker, that means putting the ball in the back of the net. That gets you noticed, but the work ethic needs to be there as well.
"Jamie Vardy was probably the first one to show that it doesn't matter if you're not part of the academy setups from the age of eight or whatever. I think the non-league boys have that heart and desire to push on and I'm another one of them.
"If you keep at it you will eventually get your break like I have this season and it is definitely never too late."
Akinyemi endured a quiet start to life at Ayr - he failed to score in his first five games as they exited the League Cup at the group stage - but he admits that was all part of the character building exercise.
He said: "I'm no different a player now to what I was back then. When I look back, it was my first pre season at full time level. So coming in and finding my feet was tough.
"In that first month - everything I hit seemed to come back off the post or the bar. It was a frustrating time from that point of view but I actually viewed those as landmarks. I knew I was getting in the right areas.
"Put it this way, I would have been more worried if I hadn't been getting the chances in the first place. I've always known the way to goal - I have total confidence in myself and where that confidence takes me.
"When I score goals I'm the highest person on the planet. To have 24 goals in the bank now is testament to my belief and hard work and I feel great for it.
"Getting awards like this is great for that work to be recognised. All I can do is keep putting the ball in the net as that's my job and hopefully it takes us all the way to the Premier League.
"I've had the most fun of my career this year - playing in this team has been brilliant and every game has meant something. To get this award is the icing on the cake and it's something I can show my son when he gets older and show him his old man wasn't half bad!"
