Seagulls stopper Maty Ryan is hoping to build on a successful time during his Albion career so far after passing the three-year mark in a Brighton shirt earlier this week.
The 28-year-old joined the Seagulls from La Liga outfit Valencia back in 2017, going onto be a part of the squad that won Albion’s first ever Premier League match.
While pleased to reach the landmark, the Australia international feels he will have plenty of time to reflect on the highlights of his career when he one day hangs up his boots.
He explained, “You don’t often get too much time to reflect on things in this industry, the games come thick and fast, so it’s always as if you’re focusing on the next game.
“Whenever there has been an individual or collective triumph, it’s always been good to enjoy the moment, but my mind is always onto the next thing we can achieve. So when the day comes that I retire, hopefully I can look back on a numerous amount of them.
3 years with the club. So many memories 🙌🏼. Working harder to create many more 💙 @OfficialBHAFC pic.twitter.com/Nxc6Guzhot
— Maty Ryan (@MatyRyan) June 17, 2020
“But a couple of the victories against the top six teams, they’re memories that last a lifetime.
"Individual victories, saving penalties against certain players, playing in these historic stadiums that you grew up watching as a kid, witnessing all the historic Champions League games and final matches, even just big Premier League derbies.
“When you get the chance to look back and really acknowledge that you’re living your dream, you’re doing something that you would never imagine as a kid you’d do, you think it’s only ever going to stay a dream.
“So I have had plenty of good times with the club and great memories that we have created and we’re working hard to create even more in the present and future.”
Now with football set to return on Saturday, Ryan is certainly excited to get back out on the pitch, even if the circumstances are a little strange.
He added, “When I came back from Australia there was still a lot of uncertainty as to whether the league was going to go ahead or not, so I was a little bit hesitant coming back not knowing what was going to happen. So it’s nice that I have come back for a purpose and we are going to restart, I am thinking a little bit selfishly.
“I am really excited to get underway, you take things for granted when you have them there and when they’re take them away from you, you realise how much how much you miss them. Football and playing in the Premier League is certainly an example of that.
“It calls for adaption and to improvise at a time like this with the circumstances we’re going to face – no crowd, try and distance ourselves on the pitch, not get involved in celebrations and all those things that are going to come with it.
“The preparation and the matches and how we’re not able to use all the facilities and those types of thing. They’re all obstacles that every individual and every team have to face.
“We have no other alternative than to roll our sleeves up and confront them and whoever does that best, it’s going to help them to be successful.
“There’s been no complaining from the boys in the training or anything like that, we’re just taking it as it is and at the end of the day the art of football itself hasn’t changed too much in terms of playing the game.
We need to take advantage of perhaps things like there is no crowd – we can pass messages a lot easier without that external noise, no interference for communication and all those sorts of things.
“We’d prefer to have the crowd there with our supporters, I think we’re going to realise how much we take for granted having an atmosphere during the matches when we have to start these matches without the crowd. But it’s all about adaption and I am sure we will confront anything we are faced with.”