Jon McLaughlin learned plenty in his exile from City’s goal – without playing a single game.

The popular goalkeeper is back between the sticks again after Lenny Pidgeley took to his bed with a virus.

After a solid return at Aldershot, he pulled off a couple of sharp saves in the midweek loss to Crewe and looks more like the confident figure that won over Peter Taylor at the tail-end of last season.

McLaughlin has had to wait three months for his chance after being axed by Taylor in October.

The period in limbo was made even worse by the Arctic weather which wiped out every potential reserve outing.

But the spell out of the firing line has allowed the 23-year-old to re-evaluate his game and what he needs to work on.

McLaughlin believes the soul-searching has proved invaluable and said: “You’ve got to be honest with yourself and realise there are reasons why you’re not in the team any more.

“You can’t be ignorant and say you’ve done everything right and think it’s just because the manager doesn’t like you.

“(Goalkeeping coach) Tim (Dittmer) has been really good and helped me work through things. We look at tapes from the games and he videos a lot of our training sessions to look at.

“As players, we’re here for a reason in League Two and you have to remember that. I’m a new goalkeeper who has definitely got masses of room to improve.”

Having named him City’s number one before a ball was kicked this season, Taylor felt McLaughlin’s confidence had been jolted by a couple of uncertain performances. Pidgeley arrived and the long-time back-up was back in familiar territory.

McLaughlin said: “You might have different ideas to the manager but ultimately it’s the gaffer’s decision. He’s got to do what’s best for the team in his mind.

“It can knock your confidence a little bit but you can’t be feeling sorry for yourself. I got into the number one spot in the first place through the ability I showed.

“You’ve got to keep faith in that. It was just a case of getting my head down, working hard and hoping that the opportunity came round again sooner rather than later.

“The weather made it more difficult because there wasn’t that chance to get noticed in games. You do as much as you can in training but nothing can replicate the pressure of being on the pitch.

“First-team games were getting called off so the reserves didn’t stand a chance. I hadn’t played a single minute of football in almost three months.”

Pidgeley’s hold on the position has looked less secure in recent weeks. But McLaughlin’s chance came when the Londoner had to cry off from the team’s Aldershot hotel last week complaining of a banging head.

He said: “It’s an unfortunate way that Pidge has had to miss the games through illness. You don’t want to take someone’s place through misfortune but it’s not as if you wish it on people.

“It was definitely a nervous first 20 minutes (against Aldershot) trying to get your head back round the game. But it was nice to feel that again. You feel that you are involved in something that really matters.”