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Sean Shields has already put a troubled season behind him and is ready to kick on back at Ebbsfleet.
Many thought the winger had played his last game for the club when he was loaned out to Maidstone and then Boreham Wood before being transfer-listed in the summer.
But the 27-year-old, who has another 12 months on his contract, was back in a Fleet shirt on Saturday for their first pre-season friendly.
Shields set up all four goals against K Sports and has no qualms about rejoining a team he last played for in November.
"It hasn’t been difficult because I’ve been at the club for a little while now and I love it here," said Shields.
"The fans are so warm towards me. They were so welcoming on Saturday, so positive and it gives me great confidence to play the way that comes naturally.
"I like to be exciting and I’ve also got a very professional mindset in the sense that what happened before, I don’t see it as bearing any real value now because I’m looking to crack on and do as well as I can for myself and the team. I’m happy to be back and I’m looking forward to the season."
Shields is one of just six members of last season's Fleet squad still at the club.
Nathan Ashmore, Jack King and Lawrie Wilson all have another year on their contracts and Myles Weston has agreed a new deal while Gozie Ugwu has made his loan move permanent.
Shields said: "The boys that left are all my friends but they know this is football, this is a job for us, so they wouldn’t see it that the people who stayed have been disloyal towards them.
"What everyone experienced last year is something people shouldn’t have to go through in the game but it happens and the boys all stuck together.
"Most of them have moved on but there’s still some of us under contract and we’ve got to do as well as we can for ourselves and the club because that’s what we’re paid to do.
"I don’t see it as something that needs to be thought about.
"You go in, you work hard, we train, we want to win matches and I don’t think there’s any other way to look at it."
Shields, who's now the longest-serving player at Ebbsfleet, started nine of their first 10 games last season and had scored three goals by the end of August.
He said: "Bearing in mind I played left-wing-back for eight of those games, that wasn’t a bad return.
"I was feeling very positive and really enjoying it but things took a strange turn after that.
"Word got round that the club was experiencing a few problems and I was loaned out by November. You were hearing different things about the problems the club was experiencing and being told it’s vital to look after yourself, to prepare almost for the worst and make sure you’re playing so you’re giving yourself the best chance possible to move on to a club at a good level.
"The loan to Maidstone was just to make sure I was playing week in, week out, and even though we were down the bottom of the table, it actually worked out as a successful loan for me because I scored a goal and set up three in just over five games which wasn’t a bad return in a team that was struggling.
"It almost gave me a little resurgence because it got me games before Christmas and there were a few clubs interested in me at Christmas but nothing materialised so I sat tight for a little while.
"There were clubs interested but nothing was developing in the sense of taking over the 18-month contract. Going back to Ebbsfleet at the time wasn’t an option because they were doing well and I found myself in a difficult situation.
"I was looking to sort my future out and get the best move possible for me.
"The Boreham Wood thing came about because my one and only league game playing under Garry Hill was against Boreham Wood in a game I did pretty well in so their manager contacted my agent when he saw I was available in January. That ended up being a loan to the end of the season.
"There were a few conversations had but again, nothing concrete.
"I then got my head back round to coming back to Ebbsfleet in the summer, which I was quite pleased about because when I saw how well the boys did and the unity of the group at such a hard time.
"I was gutted to have gone out on loan and missed that. I feel I made the wrong decision even though, at the time, you’re just trying to do what’s best for you and your career.
"It was so well-documented that the payments were late each month but the boys didn’t let it affect them.
"It was gutting to not be part of it – I know that might sound strange because nobody wants to be part of late payments and a difficult situation going on upstairs – but when I saw how much the boys stuck together, it was disappointing for me not to be part of that towards the end of the season. I do regret that."
He added: "It was very strange, probably the most complicated season I’ve had in football with everything that was going on."
Ebbsfleet face Dartford at Princes Park on Tuesday, kick-off 7.45pm.
