Former Arsenal youngster Samir Bihmoutine is learning the value of winning again at Hayes & Yeading amid the footballing rough and tumble of the Conference South relegation zone.
The 20-year-old confessed the last time points were on the agenda on the football field, prior to his loan move from Bournemouth to Kingfield, were during competitions held in his schoolboy days at The Emirates.
Since then, Bihmoutine has been involved in U21 level football where personal development is king and the scoreline all but irrelevant.
Imagine the shock then of being pitched into a survival struggle where the reverse is the only priority and physical challenges, headers and second balls take priority over the silky skills he has so carefully cultivated.
The London-born defender of dual British and Moroccan nationality admits it is a different world.
He said: “To be honest I can’t really remember the last time before I came here where I was playing in a game where the result actually mattered – it would have been U18s or even kids’ football.
“Playing in the U21s, it is more about learning and developing, but here there is no room for mistakes as you need to get the three points, work hard and not let the team down.
“The result is everything. It does not matter how you play as long as you get the three points.”
As if that adjustment was not enough, Bihmoutine has also been asked to embrace a change of role from left-back to a position on the left of a diamond in midfield for United.
He admits it is a tough learning curve, but the youngster, despite being just 5ft 7ins, is catching on fast and learning to mix it in the men’s game.
He added: “My natural position is at left-back, but the gaffer asked me to play on the left of the diamond, which means learning new things, and it is a lot more physically demanding.
“He tells me to just enjoy myself and does not put pressure on me. He asks me to do what I can do, but to look after myself on the pitch, so I’ve tried to show I’m not a pushover.
“This is about learning the men’s game and the physicality of it, to be able to transfer that when I do go back to Bournemouth and be able to hold my ground with bigger players.”
Bihmoutine’s loan spell, along with that of fellow Cherries starlet Brandon Goodship, is due to end after this Saturday’s trip to Dorchester Town. He will be in the squad for tonight’s (Thursday’s) trip to Basingstoke and the clash with the Dorset club.
