Mason Mount looked like he was going to be the first casualty of the Thomas Tuchel era at Chelsea.
The Blues midfielder was left out for the German's first game in charge against Wolves back in January.
Mount has since been restored to the starting XI and continued to prove his worth in an ever improving side.
But his early disappointment was not his first rodeo having also struggled for game time in a loan spell at Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem earlier in his career.
The 22-year-old was not put off by Tuchel's selection call however and used it as motivation going forward.
"I’ve had that experience before," he said when quizzed on his early omission.
"I was on loan at Vitesse Arnhem when I was 18, 19. That first couple of months I didn’t play hardly at all.
"I had that motivation and that fire to want to get into the team. The first game with the manager coming in, he went for a more experienced team.
"I understood that and wanted to get back into the team, so that motivation and that fire that I have inside me came out.
"I really tried to push to get back into the team. It’s been brilliant.
"We are working very hard. We’ve had tough games in this last period but we have come through it. It’s exciting stuff, we continue to work hard. It’s been a great start."
Chelsea's run of form under Tuchel has put them firmly back in the top four picture.
The west Londoners occupy the final Champions League spot and have a two point lead over West Ham in fifth.
Tuchel is yet to taste defeat as manager at Stamford Bridge and has also guided his side into the last eight in Europe.
