After a couple of poor performances earlier in the season, some were writing off Alan Smith's career at United. He turned down several loan opportunites to fight to regain a place at Old Trafford and feels that his hard work has paid off.
"I knew myself that I was miles off, I came off after 55 minutes against Southend and after that it was a case of going back to the drawing board and working hard. Since then I've just been waiting for the opportunity.
"The biggest thing for me over the last week has been the gaffer's belief in me," Smith says. "To put me in against Roma and to have faith in me to do well in a massive game, that was everything that I'd hoped for.
"It has only been two games so I'm not going to get carried away. I'm still a bit short and I've got a fair bit to do to get back to my best. But I feel good and I'm playing football with a smile on my face again, which has been quite difficult for me at times. I had one leg this time last year but I was always confident I would be back. As soon as it happened I spoke to the gaffer and said, 'It's done, let's put it to one side and work hard to get rehab and get back fit'. That was my attitude.
"Even when the gaffer called me in just after Christmas and said he had a list of clubs wanting to take me on loan I said, 'I'm not going, it's as simple as that.' He said it was a chance to play regularly in the Premiership, but I'd done that before and I knew I could do it. That's never been in question, as far as I'm concerned.
"I wanted to stay at United and put myself in the gaffer's thoughts and it was the right thing to do. It's games like Saturday and last Tuesday night that you want to be involved in - and you can't get that anywhere else other than the top-three clubs."