LEWIN Nyatanga has revealed the secret behind his elevation from squad player to first-team regular.

In and out of City's first team following his transfer from Derby County two years ago, the Wales international spent much of his time kicking his heels on the bench awaiting an opportunity.

Ironically, that opportunity only materialised following a lengthy injury-enforced lay-off at the start of last season.

Nyatanga damaged ankle ligaments during a pre-season friendly against Blackpool in August 2010 and spent the first six weeks of the campaign wearing a supportive brace.

But once able to resume training, the big defender made up for lost time by working on those areas of his game he felt needed improvement. And the results have been evident for all to see since he regained his place in manager Keith Millen's starting line-up at the start of this year.

No longer a bit-part player, the 22-year-old has established himself as an integral member of City's back four. And he attributes his new-found status to the efforts he made while injured to increase his athleticism.

Nyatanga said: "Every player has injuries and there is never a good time to be out of the side. Instead of getting down about it, you have to stay positive.

"I used that time I was on the sidelines to analyse my game and think about what I could do to improve myself as a player. I realised I had to work on my athleticism if I was going to bet back in the team and stay there. The way the game is going these days, it is all about speed and power and the Premier League is full of good athletes.

"I did a lot of work in the gym to improve my speed and strength and that helped me when I was ready to play again."

Nyatanga insists the daily grind of Championship football affords modern-day players little time to work on improving their game.

He said: "When you get into the first team at a very young age as I did at Derby, you don't really get the time to work on your game. It's train, play, train, play and there is no chance to take a step back.

"When I was injured last season, it gave me the opportunity to analyse my game in a way you are unable to do when playing Saturday and Tuesday most weeks.

"If you know you are not playing on a Saturday, you can go even harder in training and stay behind afterwards to concentrate on specific areas in which you need to improve.

"The extra training I did back then helped me enormously and, once I was back in the team, I was able to fully appreciate the improvements I had made."

The departure of Steven Caulker at the end of last season and the injury and illness suffered by Liam Fontaine and Louis Carey respectively, have given Nyatanga and James Wilson, pictured, an unexpected opportunity to forge a central defensive partnership.

Although City have displayed a worrying tendency to concede soft goals this season, Nyatanga believes he and Wilson complement one another well.

He said: "James is a thoroughly modern defender, one who has real pace and is able to get back quickly and cut out the danger.

"My job is to win the first ball and my improved strength and fitness has helped in that respect. It's about bringing different styles together to forge a balanced partnership and, despite our results, I think we are getting better.

"But there is always room for improvement and the one area we need to work on is our concentration. If you switch off for even a second in this league, you tend to be punished."