THE winning feeling may remain elusive but Lewis O’Brien is looking the perfect fit for the senior stage.

In the gloom of a campaign where it has been tough to dig out anything remotely positive, the form of the rookie midfielder has shone like a beacon.

The Huddersfield loanee has embraced the step up from under-23s football to the “men’s” game with a confidence and swagger that belies City’s currently desperate situation.

Even the monsoon-like conditions of Aldershot at the weekend failed to dampen O’Brien’s enthusiasm.

“I didn’t really expect to come in and play as much as I have,” he said. “I thought I’d be in and out, coming off the bench, but I got chucked in at the deep end.

“I’ve experienced a bit of everything so far and I think I’ve dealt with it pretty well.”

Circumstances may have dictated O’Brien’s extended opportunity in the City engine room but he has grabbed it with both hands.

Josh Wright’s hamstring injury in David Hopkin’s first game in charge at Blackpool offered a first taste from the bench.

Since then, O’Brien has become a regular fixture with 12 starts under his belt.

He added: “Coming from ‘23s football at Huddersfield in front of 20 fans to my first game against Charlton with 15,000 there was crazy. The learning curve I’ve had is fantastic.

“You see how much it matters because it’s people’s livelihoods. If you don’t do well, you won’t end up where you want to be.

“You don’t just go home after the match and think it’s done now. You think about it for a while, analyse it and then come back and try to do better in the next game.

“We’ve had to stick together as a group and help each other. The communication between us, whether it’s in the changing room, on the training pitch or in the match has to be up there.

“Since I’ve come in, I’ve seen it improve. The whole team is starting to gel together and I think people are seeing we’re more organised than we used to be.”

Saturday’s “water ride” in the FA Cup was another eye-opener for the 20-year-old as he tried to negotiate conditions completely alien to anything he had played on before.

“The ball was just getting stuck in the water and you had to fight for it. I’ve never played a game like that before – it was crazy,” added O’Brien.

“There were points in the game when I was thinking the ref would call it off. The surface water started out wide on the pitch but by the 60th minute you couldn’t even pass it down the middle.

“It was just stopping everywhere. But we played the full game and got a draw out of it.

“Given the conditions, coming away with a replay showed our determination. Hopefully we can turn them over on a better pitch – rather than a swimming pool.”

City certainly carved out the chances to complete the job in Hampshire. But a combination of sloppy finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Aldershot’s Will Mannion meant they must do it all again at Valley Parade in a week’s time.

O’Brien himself fell victim to the acrobatic antics of Mannion as City battered away for a breakthrough.

He said: “There was one point where Connor (Wood) cut inside from the left, had a shot with his right foot and the keeper spilled it and got it off the line.

“Then I had a shot and he tipped it over the bar. I had a header at the end – we had chance after chance really.

“It just wasn’t going our way. That’s been the case for a few weeks now but I’m sure the tide’s going to change soon and we’ll get through it.”

O’Brien keeps in regular touch with Huddersfield and was happier to relay brighter news when this week’s call came from his parent club.

It was the first time this season that City have managed to respond after going behind to get some reward. He believes that is another small step in the right direction following the rock-bottom moment of that second half at Gillingham.

O’Brien added: “We actually played well in the first half that day and dominated them. I just don’t know what happened after that.

“We lost our concentration and once one went in, we ended up conceding four.

“But we played really well against Portsmouth and were unlucky not to get something. Saturday was another game where you just had to get through it and we’ll take the draw.”