Shay Given is delighted to be playing and says 'it's nice to feel wanted again' following his summer move to Aston Villa.
The veteran Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper finally gave up in his bid to oust Joe Hart from the number one spot at former club Manchester City and made the £3.5million switch to Villa Park ahead of the new season.
And, following an impressive debut in Saturday's opening 0-0 draw at Fulham in which he picked up a slight groin problem that he hopes to shake off in time to make his home debut against Blackburn this weekend, was overjoyed to be back playing again.
Given also stressed the feeling of being part of a team and not sitting on the sidelines week in week out like he did in his final year at City is a huge boost to him.
"My last game before Fulham was probably around March time in a European game for Man City," he told the Birmingham Mail.
"It's a long time, but in the Premier League it's probably the end of last April, so that's an even longer time.
"Have I missed it? Of course, yeah. You train all week to play at the weekend and it's very frustrating when you don't play.
"Last year was frustrating - it's probably well-documented and the word is overused at this stage, but it's nice to be back and nice to feel wanted again and feel part of the team and be playing in front of big crowds again."