Luke Daniels admits he is disappointed at being a second-choice goalkeeper for Brentford after moving away from his family to play regular first-team football.
The 31-year-old signed for the Bees on a free transfer from Scunthorpe in the summer of 2017 but has had to watch from the bench for most of his tenure, with Daniel Bentley occupying the number-one spot.
With Bentley suffering a shoulder injury a month ago, Daniels has started the last five Championship matches – his longest run since joining the club.
Previous Brentford head coach Dean Smith had started the former Manchester United academy player in his last two games in charge after a series of mistakes by Bentley, but Thomas Frank reinstated the 25-year-old when he took over in October.
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Asked about how he came to terms with that decision, Daniels said: “It’s still difficult. Obviously I came here to play football and when that doesn’t happen it’s not great for me. But I’ve kept working hard and hopefully I’ve done okay.”
And Daniels says he has been constantly knocking on the boss’ door while out of the side: “I’m not someone who’s happy sitting here, not playing football.
"I came here, moved from Manchester and left my family at home to play football, and that’s what I wanted to do. So I think they [the coaching staff] are probably sick of the sight of me. But it is what it is."
Having passed his 30th birthday since moving to Brentford, Daniels could be forgiven for thinking about taking his services elsewhere to get regular minutes.
He still has a year left on his contract with the Bees but insists he is not thinking about his future at the moment.
“I’m not really looking further than the next game really,” Daniels continued. “It’s important that while I get an opportunity to play games I’m just taking it one game at a time and enjoying it, because it’s been a while.
“I’ve felt that [I’ve been in strong competition with Bentley] all season, I felt that last season. I don’t pick the team, the manager does that, so I’ve just got to train hard every day and see where we go from there.”
The shot-stopper is pleased with how he’s coped with his opportunity in the starting XI though.
“Obviously it’s the first time I’ve played a real block of games for a while,” he added. “I think physically, getting back used to playing is difficult but I feel like I’ve done that now and hopefully I can continue to play for a while.”
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