Australian winger Tommy Oar says he’s feeling as fit as he’s felt for some time and is hoping to make the most of any first-team opportunities which come his way during the busy Christmas-New Year run of fixtures.
Oar, 24, joined the Blues on a free transfer in August having left Eredivisie side FC Utrecht at the end of last season, but his only league start so far came in the 0-0 draw with Huddersfield when he was forced off at half-time having suffered a concussion.
He also started the 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat at Manchester United and has made three further Championship appearances from the bench.
"It would’ve been nice to come here and play every single minute and set the world on fire, but it doesn’t always happen like that,” Oar told Australian FourFourTwo.
"I’ve had a bit of an interrupted start. In my first start I got knocked out and I’ve had a few small injuries since then. But right now, I’m feeling as fit as I’ve felt for quite a long time.”
The former Brisbane Roar wideman says he’s put on two kilograms of additional muscle since joining the Blues.
"It’s the strongest I’ve felt as well,” he added. "I’ve put on a bit of muscle too, which obviously you need to do when you come to the UK.
"The game is more based on power and is end to end, whereas in Holland I was playing in midfield where there was a lot of constant endurance running whereas here it’s more sprints based.
"It’s not an instruction from the manager who says, 'Look you need to put on a couple of kilos'. It naturally happens, because every day I’m doing more shooting or sprints, it just happens.”
Speaking earlier in the week, manager Mick McCarthy said he had been impressed with the 28-times-capped Socceroo in training and Oar hopes that will lead to involvement in the next few matches.
"We’re right up in the promotion play-offs spots at the moment, which for me is fantastic,” he continued.
"This time of year there’s so many games. For the next three weeks, we’ve got midweek games for each one. The feedback I’m getting at the moment from the coaches has been good.
"I have to keep going and make sure when I get that chance to come on, whether it’s five minutes at the end or from the start, I need to make sure I do everything I can to come back well.”