Jay Dasilva admitted he had considered a January move away from Bristol City after losing his place in the side.
The wing-back is enjoying a renaissance in the first team having started in each of the club's last nine matches, appearing to have earned back the trust of Nigel Pearson with a string of consistent performances.
The 23-year-old was forced to bide his time to wait for an opportunity after he was dropped from the team following the 3-2 defeat to Coventry on November 6. His next appearance came midway through the transfer market on January 15 in the FA Cup loss to Fulham.
Dasilva joined Ashton Gate in 2018 on loan from Chelsea and he signed permanently a year later. But he admitted he was weighing up his future before fighting his way back into the team.
Ahead of Saturday's game with Nottingham Forest, he said: "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't something I had thought about but my main focus was to get back into the team. I don't think anything was close at all it was just an option.
"I wanted to be here, that was my main focus to do what I can. It's not easy, every footballer wants to play football.
"I just had to stay positive, stay professional, keep working every day and just tell myself I know I'm a good player. It's easy to start thinking you're not a good player - so just remind yourself, stay confident and stay ready.
"I'm just happy to be back playing in the team and playing again. No one wants to be sitting on the sidelines not getting in the team and everyone wants to play so hopefully I can stay there for the rest of the season.
"It's quite easy as a footballer when you're not in the team to not give the same work ethic in training every day so that was my main thing to make sure I was still working hard in training. I knew when I did get the chance, I didn't want to be off it in the game."
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