Experienced Everton midfielder Leon Osman is ready to fight for his place in David Moyes' side this year, insisting he wants to play every minute of every game.
Osman stepped into the void created by injuries to Marouane Fellaini and Mikel Arteta last year and shone in his creative role as the Blues' rallied from another poor start to a season.
The fleet-footed midfielder has been a victim of his own versatility in recent years, being asked to fill a number of different roles by his manager.
But despite admitting he enjoyed his settled run as Everton's creative engine last year, Osman insists he's happiest simply when he's playing, something he aims to do a lot more of in the coming months.
He said: "I'm always wanting to be out on the park.
"I want to play every game, and every minute of every game too, I'm never happy when I get brought off.
"But the manager knows that and he knows what type of character I am. So I'll be there as often as I can.
"It was good to get a long stretch in the team last season.
"The fact that we had a lot of people out meant that I ended up getting a lot more of the ball, people saw me as the creator and I seemed to enjoy the game more.
"And I always to find when I'm enjoying my game that I play better.
"I'm just proud to be out there with the blue jersey on and hopefully I can be out there a lot more this season."
Everton have been handed a somewhat simpler start to their season after the postponement of last week's original curtain raiser at White Hart Lane.
The Blues welcome Premier League new boys QPR to Goodison Park a week after they suffered a crushing 4-0 defeat at home to Bolton.
After that harsh re-introduction to the top flight, Neil Warnock's side are likely to be considerably more cautious for their trip to Merseyside.
But while Everton stood up to the biggest teams at home last year they often struggled against lesser opposition.
Osman said that problem is one his team are well aware of and something the Blues have been working to overcome.
He said: "We know we can raise our game against the big boys and make it difficult for them.
"But you have to adapt to a style of play when a team comes to Goodison and sits back, lets you have the ball and camps on the edge of the box.
"It's a different style of play to if you're playing Man United at home, where you're both going for each other.
"The lower teams have raised their game to play us now and they make the game a lot harder.
"We need to learn to cope with that if we want to push on in the league."
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chris sawyer, ormskirk around 9 months, 1 week ago