Emyr Huws says he knows he has to do more if he is to re-establish himself in the Ipswich Town team.
Following two years of injury hell, the Welsh midfielder completed a full pre-season and has subsequently made 12 games and five substitute appearances totalling 1,057 minutes of action.
The 26-year-old is yet to hit the heights of the impressive loan spell which led to Town handing him a four-year contract back in 2017 and faces plenty of competition in the middle of the park.
A busy cup schedule saw him start six games over 33 days in between November/December, but since the FA Cup exit to Coventry he has been handed just one outing - against Wycombe on New Year's Day.
"I haven't been involved recently, which has been frustrating for me," said Huws, speaking after that televised 1-1 draw at Adams Park.
"It's obviously nowhere near as frustrating as last season. I couldn't even get anywhere near anything fitness wise then, so in that sense I'm really happy with how things are going.
"Performance-wise I know I can do better and I will do better. I might need to lower expectations a little bit and just keep going and keep working hard.
"Coming in and out the team is tough, I'm not going to lie. But I understand that we're a big team and we've got a big squad."
Asked if manager Paul Lambert was being cautious with him due to his injury past, Huws replied: "I think there was a bit of that at the start, but I'm not injured anymore. That is dead and gone.
"I need to perform consistently to get in the team and stay in the team now, simple as that."
Huws now faces more competition for midfield places following the return to fitness of Teddy Bishop.
The latter, who has also had his own long-term on-off injury woes, produced an impressive comeback display in Saturday's 2-1 EFL Trophy exit at Exeter.
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"He's a top player, everyone knows that," said Huws.
"He's had it tough with injuries like me so I think they'll integrate Ted progressively.
"He'll add to the team, 100%. He's different to what we've got. He's creative, a really good player and can hopefully help us."
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