West Ham United midfielder Stewart Downing admits getting away from Liverpool was the key to his career turnaround.
Downing has won an England recall after two years in the wilderness.
"It was mentioned when I signed for West Ham that I could play in a few different positions," he said.
"I had been used as a left-back at Liverpool and I wasn't happy with that because I felt I was still young enough to play further up the field.
"Sam Allardyce agreed. He thought I could play in the middle but last season he didn't have an opportunity to play me there because he was just happy to get a team out with all the injuries.
"This season he has strength in depth and the personnel suits the way we play. Maybe he saw something in training but he decided to change it against Hull this season and it worked well with me at the top of the diamond.
"I'm certainly more involved, even without the ball as against Liverpool earlier this season when I had to do a job on Steven Gerrard which I enjoyed."
