Livingston defender Jackson Longridge is confident his recent run in the team shows the manager can trust him as he targets more minutes.
The 27-year-old has featured in the club's last three games - the first time he's had such a run since January - and as he approaches the final six months of his contract, he's determined to prove his worth to the Premiership side.
The left-back admitted there was nothing he could do given the impressive displays by both Cristian Montano and James Penrice, but says he kept giving his all in training to ensure he'd be ready when presented with the opportunity.
He commented: "Because of the start we had, it was difficult for me. I had to bide my time because Cristian Montaño was playing very well and scoring goals to win games. I had to keep being as professional as I could be and training hard to keep pushing him and wait for my time.
“When he picked up an injury I got some minutes and it’s just growing confidence from that and doing what I can to help the team. It’s not easy starting your first game against Celtic. I’ll always give 110 per cent. It’s just trying to plant a seed in the manager’s head and hopefully I can stick in the position and help the team progress.
“At my age, it’s important I get as much game-time as possible. At the start of the season, I never played and at the tail end of last season I didn’t play as much as I had hoped, but that was down to James Penrice playing well. He deserved to keep the shirt."
He added: "It was about getting a fast start this season - which I didn’t get. But I was keeping professional and grinding hard and that’s all I’ve been doing in training.
“I’ve been trying to show I’m a decent player and giving him (boss David Martindale) the belief that he can put me on and trust me that I’ll do a job for him."
The Lions travel to Kilmarnock tonight with just three games remaining before the break and Longridge is targeting a positive run, saying: "It’s about grinding out and battling, and making sure we come away with nothing less than a point. That will set us up with confidence going into the games after that.
“The games we’re going into I feel are winnable games but we know every game is hard. It’s about battling and getting back to the basics.
“The manager sets out his targets and tells us what he wants but as players we need to set our own targets. I feel these three games we need to go into with confidence."
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