Republic of Ireland Under-21 captain Joe Hodge admits he will look to go out on loan if regular opportunities do not arise at Wolves between now and January but is fully focused on trying to break back into the first team picture at the Premier League club.
The midfielder's start to the new season was temporarily derailed by a grade two hamstring injury which kept him out for around four weeks, including the Irish U21s' opening European qualifier wins over Turkey and San Marino last month.
At club level, his first team involvement before that setback was restricted to a 55-minute cameo against Blackpool in the Carabao Cup at the end of August.
But now that injury is behind him, he is keen to impress Wolves manager Gary O'Neil who replaced Julen Lopetegui just days before the start of the campaign.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport ahead of Friday's U21 qualifier in Latvia, Hodge said he had spoken to the former Bournemouth boss about his role going forwards.
"I spoke to him a couple of times. It's always difficult. I think there's quality in the squad, I think everyone sees that and the last couple of results show that," he said.
"It's not easy but obviously I'm not happy with where I'm at at the moment. I want to be doing more than what I'm doing.
"I feel like I'm capable of doing more than what I'm doing at the moment. There's still a few months left till January so I'm going to try and do my best to get myself in the team, push as hard as I can and then, look, if things don't change, I'll be looking to go out and get some minutes because I think that's the most important."
This time last season, Hodge had just begun to make his mark within the Wolverhampton Wanderers first team. Indeed, the first anniversary of what was an impressive Premier League debut against Chelsea under then-caretaker boss Steve Davis came last Sunday.
That sparked a run of first team games which began to dry up after Lopetegui took charge but having scaled those heights and also overcome significant injury setbacks in the past, the ex-Derry City loanee is steeled for the challenge to come.
"The last 12 months have been a hundred times better than what the previous few years were so I can't have any complaints about that," said Hodge.
"Obviously the last six months - since January really - hasn't gone the way I would have wanted it to have gone for the most part.
"But that's through no fault of my own I don't think. I've been working hard, I've been trying to take every opportunity that I've been given.
"I think if you look at pre-season, I was taking all the opportunities that I had and I was playing well in pre-season.
"But I guess that's football, just the way things change so quickly. If the old gaffer had stayed, things might have been completely different for me now but look, that's just the way it goes.
"Nothing's changed in the way I'm keeping myself. I'm still pushing, trying to get into the team and sometimes it just doesn't happen overnight."
However, Hodge will be central to Jim Crawford's plans in Latvia as Ireland look to make it three wins from three in the qualifying group and although Premier League game-time has been lacking, he goes into this window having featured for an hour in Wolves U21s' win over their Leeds counterparts ten days ago.
"I'm feeling really good and as far as the injury is concerned, I got back pretty quick, three or four weeks which isn't bad going for the injury," he said.
"It was good to get some minutes. Obviously, I want to be playing as many first team minutes as I can but any minutes for the '21s helps and I'm looking to play in that (Latvia) game and get some sharpness for this week."
A victory at the Zemgale Olympic Center in Jelgava is key for momentum ahead of the next block of qualifiers in November which will see Ireland come up against Norway and Italy.
"All our focus is on Latvia since the start of this week. We only have one game to think about," Hodge said of the October assignment.
"The lads were fantastic. The last window I loved watching them. We'll deal with the next two games when we get to it in November but for now, we're just focused on getting a win this week and I'm sure the lads will be able to do that tomorrow."
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