Ryan Sellers feels his return to Wingate & Finchley increases his long-term prospects of a Football League comeback – because he is enjoying the game again.

The left-sided player, who is only 22, began his third spell with the Blues this season after making 17 appearances for League Two side Wycombe Wanderers last term.

But, despite dropping down three divisions to rejoin Wingate, Sellers – who graduated through the club’s youth set-up before spells with Barnet and Bolton – is convinced that the move was right for his career.

“Every player at any level would like to play professional football,” Sellers told Ham&High Sport. “Nine times out of 10, it comes quicker if you’re enjoying your game and having fun and you’re relaxed.

“Of course I’d love to go back into it – that’s no disrespect to this club or this level but it’s always been my aspiration to be a professional footballer and I work as hard as I can, day in, day out.

“I’m still quite young and I’ve got a lot ahead of me – I just need to keep enjoying my football, which is why I came back here. Wingate’s always been my home.

“I love the club and it’s full of good people who want football to be played the right way. The chairman and the management opened the door, they were very welcoming and that makes my time here a lot easier.

“I started here when I was a kid and I’ve got friends here that I made then – we have a good social life as well as on the pitch and that helps as well, when you talk about team cohesion.

“You go to certain clubs and there’s a lot goes on behind the doors that people don’t see. Here, from the chairman right the way down, you have people working for nothing – that shows what a nice environment it is.”

After spending a year as part of Barnet’s development squad, Sellers then made a brief return to Wingate before a friend invited him to take part in national Nike trials at St George’s Park.

His performance in those trials earned Sellers a contract with Bolton but, during his time with the Trotters’ Under-21 side, the youngster always retained a keen interest in Wingate’s fortunes.

Sellers continued: “When I was at Bolton and Wycombe, every Saturday I’d look for the Wingate score. I kept track of it more when I wasn’t at the club and I always tried to come down as much as I could to watch.

“Now I don’t really ever look at where we are in the table because I don’t like to put pressure on myself – if I do that, my game starts to change. I’m not the sort of person who keeps count of results, I look at what’s ahead.

“I’m quite lucky that I’ve had good experience, played with some good players and gained more understanding of football in general. That’s drilled into you when you start playing at a higher level.

“As a kid I’d always want to go forward and try and score, then I learned how important it is to get three points or one, or not to concede a goal when you’re playing competitively.”

Sellers and his team-mates have enjoyed some success on the latter front of late, with Keith Rowland’s side conceding only three times in six league games prior to Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Billericay Town.

That improvement from a shaky start includes Saturday’s 4-0 triumph over Tonbridge Angels – the Blues’ biggest league win of the season – and they are now sitting in the top half of the Premier Division table.

“I think the side’s really started to settle down,” added Sellers. “A lot of new faces came into the club and the gaffer wanted to play a certain way – and I think he’s now got that message across.

“We’ve played enough games to know what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are and now we’ve started to understand what’s needed in this league.

“Credit to the gaffer to keep on at us in training and it’s started to pay off. Players just needed time to click and we’ve got people who can come off the bench and have a really good impact on the game as well.

“I would love to finish near the play-offs as a target, I know the other boys would as well and I think that’s realistic. We’re a good enough team to compete around that area.”