HIBERNIAN midfielder Fraser Fyvie is not the type of player who would ever take his revered status as a professional footballer for granted, but after his "emotionally draining" spell at Wigan Athletic he now cherishes every second spent on the pitch.
The 22-year-old is back enjoying the sport after Alan Stubbs rescued him from the wilderness at the Latics in January when he signed the former Aberdeen playmaker on a six-month deal.
In just over three months at Easter Road, Fyvie has already made more appearances than he did in two-and-a-half years with Wigan.
The Scotland Under-21 cap went down south with high hopes after being recruited by Roberto Martinez in a reported £500,000 transfer, but between short-term loan moves to Yeovil and Shrewsbury, Fyvie only made 11 appearances for the English outfit, 10 of them coming in domestic cup competitions. In fact, in his final 18 months at Wigan, Fyvie only played a total of 240 minutes for the club.
Asked how the closing stages of his stay at Wigan were, Fyvie replied: "I'm trying to find the words for it. Emotionally draining.
"You want to play every week, not be left at home on a Saturday. I was left at home, taking my kids out to the park, it wasn't nice. It's something I don't want to do again, I don't mean taking the kids to the park, but when you are a footballer you want to be playing every week. It was not a great experience.
"The first year at Wigan was great, just after that it took a big dip. A new manager [Uwe Rosler] came in, that's what happens.
"My family - my missus, my mum and dad, they are probably the three main people who kept me going. Obviously when you have the kids you want to do the best you can for them. That's what kept me going.
"But I appreciate the game more, the banter more, playing every week more and being involved with the guys going out on that pitch. When the manager names you on the team sheet it's a great feeling and one I want to keep."
Fyvie is thrilled to be back playing on a regular basis having already racked up 16 appearances for the Edinburgh club. And being involved in games where the stakes are high adds to the excitement.
Hibs will discover who they will face in Wednesday's play-off semi- final, first leg, after the game between Rangers and Queen of the South at Ibrox this afternoon.
"Every footballer wants to be involved in games that mean something, you don't want to finish the end of the season in sixth place or mid-table," said Fyvie, who returned to Scotland with the Hibs squad on Friday following a training camp in La Manga.
"You want to be up there challenging for promotion or cups like Hibs have done this year. We were unfortunate to go out in the Scottish Cup semi-final but in the final league game against Falkirk we showed that that result wasn't justified on the day. Good luck to them in the final, but on the last day of the season we showed we are ready for this.
"I am a little bit fresher because I didn't play down the road for six months, or three years. So I am probably a little bit fresher but I think this week has done them [the other players] the world of good."
Hibs head coach Stubbs decided to take the players away for warm- weather training after finishing second in the Championship gave them an 18-day break. Fyvie, who is still unsure where he will be next season, reckons his current team-mates have more than made up for their lack of competitive action by putting in a shift in Spain.
"I think the 18-day break is a good thing for us personally, it's given a few of the boys who have played most games time to recharge the batteries and you can see this week that everybody looks a little bit fresher already.
"Training has been of a very good standard, a high intensity. The boys are in good spirits and the training was really sharp. There was no slacking or being in holiday mode.
"Training has been exactly the same as back home with the same intensity. That can hopefully benefit us so we can push on a bit more. There was no drop off in Spain, the only difference was having to slap on factor 50."
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