Philadelphia Union defender Austin Berry has never really been threatened for a first-team place in the last few years. He has been a regular player at his previous clubs like Chicago Fire as well. However, a combination of injury problems and poor form has led to the player into suffering a long time of being in the bench. He was especially guilty of making some mistakes against big teams like LA Galaxy, which have allowed the likes of Robbie Keane to score. Despite such problems, Berry has revealed that he is ready to show the Philadelphia Union manager that he deserves to be in the starting line-up on a regular basis.

Berry has revealed that he became a little too comfortable for his own liking when he was at Chicago Fire. Now, the increased competition for places mean that he is no longer a few matches away from being dropped if he puts in poor performances. The 25-year-old starter this season with a couple of hamstring injuries, which prevented him from making the first three matches of the season. Since then, he has been kept out of the first-team by Aaron Wheeler. This was because of the very poor performance against Real Salt Lake back in April.

“It’s definitely been a challenge. But I think, personally, it’s made me a little better. In Chicago, I think maybe I was a little bit too comfortable because there really wasn’t anyone pushing for my spot. Here, I really had to earn that spot back. That in itself made me work a little bit harder, put some more time in and kind of get myself back,” said the player about fighting back for a first-team spot. Philadelphia Union manager John Hackworth is someone should have a lot of options in this position but he says that Berry can win back his place.