Robbie Kruse was on fire for Bayer Leverkusen in his first start for the German club on the weekend.
The 24-year old Australian winger was given the chance to start in place of Heung-min Son in Saturday's trip to FSV Mainz and it was a move by manager Samy Hyypia that paid dividends.
Kruse scored a first-half brace, as well as supplying Lars Bender, as Leverkusen won 4-1 to remain third on the Bundesliga table and he was thrilled with how his first full bow panned out.
"It couldn't have gone any better," he said.
"I'm relieved that my hard work has paid off. Obviously you're disappointed when you're not playing often, but I was always there to support my team-mates and it shouldn't be forgotten that I have top class players ahead of me.
"Now the head coach knows that he has another option available."
While Hyypia suggested the former Fortuna Dusseldorf and Melbourne Victory man had put his best case forward for future starts for the Werkself.
"Robbie is a good player and he didn't hinder his chances of featuring more often today," the ex-Liverpool defender said.
