Newcastle United defender DeAndre Yedlin has 'grown as person' after facing up to the difficult challenge of life on the sidelines.
It looked like the American right-back was on his way out of the club during the summer transfer window, but when no move materialised, he was named in Steve Bruce's 25-man Premier League squad.
However, the 27-year-old had to be content with just two Carabao Cup appearances this term - until he made a late cameo appearance in the 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in the middle of December.
The Covid-19 outbreak which swept through the Magpies squad - plus the hectic fixture list - meant Yedlin was given a chance to show what he could do again in the first team, and he has let no one down, particularly impressing in the goalless draw with champions Liverpool.
And as he prepared for Tuesday night's crucial clash with Sheffield United, Yedlin revealed how he can kept himself mentally strong during his time out of the first-team picture.
"It's been a positive for me, but one thing I've learned, especially with Covid, is that you don't know when it's going to be your last time doing something," Yedlin told the club's TV channel.
"I certainly didn't know if that was going to be my last time playing for Newcastle.
"Luckily it wasn't but I'm trying to change my mentality to live every day as if it was my last one or that I won't get another chance to do this - that's been my mind-frame for these last couple of months.
"Don't get me wrong, it's hard, but another thing I've learned is that in what you deem is a negative situation, you can always find a positive if you search hard enough into it.
"I'm just trying to grow from the situation. I was off the field and that's not somewhere I've found myself in recent years. It was tough for me but sometimes those are the situations you need to be in to grow as person - on and off the field - and I know I have.
"When I was really in it there was some sulking, there was some bad thoughts running through my head, but at the end of the day, it was something I needed to grow as a person, which is ultimately what you want out of life."
Those better performances need to be turned into points - starting at Bramall Lane this week.
Yedlin is in no doubt over the importance of the game, but feels Newcastle can build on some recent better showings.
"It's huge, it's obviously against a team that's at the bottom of the table so it's a six-point game," he added.
"You see how many points they have and obviously they've not had the best season, but the watching their games they are in every game, it's always close, so if we can't take it lightly and have to be up for a massive challenge.
"We've got to stay on our game. We haven't had the best results recently but our performances have got better and better. It's about building on those and hopefully we can get a result."
