Mat Ryan has kept eight cleansheets this season for Brighton Hove & Albion - including a brilliant 90th minute penalty save against Stoke last time out - but it wasn't always this simple for the talented Aussie.

"There had been days at Valencia where I spat the dummy and asked myself, ‘What am I training for? I’m throwing myself around for nothing’," Ryan wrote for the Player's Voice.

"I was frustrated and fed up and it wasn’t doing my career any good," he said.

After a stellar career with Central Coast Mariners, Ryan quickly rose to international attention in Belgium with Club Brugge, earning a move to Spanish giants Valencia.

La Liga takes no prisoners. Coaching changes, Brazillian international Diego Alves vying for his position, and being thrown into the deep end in a demolition at the hands of Barcelona summarised Ryan's experience for Los Che.

There was one footballer, however, who helped Ryan reclaim his motivation.

"The thing that strikes me with Timmy (Cahill) is how he uses history to drive him on. He instils this within himself – to keep pushing, keep achieving his goals," Ryan said.

"When I first arrived at Brighton, I was determined to shake off the bad memories of the past year, work as hard as was humanly possible and prove myself in the best league in the world.

"I always have high expectations of myself. I’m my own harshest critic.

"Now that I’ve experienced what the other side of football is like, it makes me appreciate even more what I have here at Brighton.

"It truly is a special place."