SAINTS forward Paul Onuachu admitted he "wanted to leave" in the summer as he felt he would not receive a chance under former boss Russell Martin.
Onuachu, 30, was not a part of Martin's plans until he was included on the bench at AFC Bournemouth six weeks into the season.
Following a successful loan spell at Trabzonspor last season, the Nigerian international was linked with a host of Turkish clubs over the summer.
Saints received offers from Super Lig clubs, but they fell well short of the club's valuation, with Trabzonspor said to have bid £5million.
Onuachu has worked his way back into the fold at St Mary's since his desired exit failed to materialise, first under Martin and now under new boss Ivan Juric.
In his first interview with local media, Onuachu told the Daily Echo: “It’s been (an) up and down season. First of all, we were talking about transferring and leaving the team.
“It didn’t happen. I kept working hard and believing in myself. Russell Martin saw I had potential and started including me.
“He started to believe in me. He gave me some chances and I think I executed them very well. Now we are here."
He continued: “Russ spoke to me when I got back from loan but I felt like I probably wasn’t going to get a chance like he told me.
“I just wanted to leave (and go) where I could play more. But he actually spoke to me saying he wanted me to stay.
“I felt like, probably, that some minutes is not really being involved. I wanted to leave at that time. This has happened a lot of times already in my career.
"I don’t care if I’m training with the B team, C team or by myself. I give everything when I am training, whether that is with one coach, two coaches or three coaches.”
The former Genk forward came agonisingly close to opening his account on several occasions against the Hammers.
Lukasz Fabianski produced important saves to deny him in the first half before he missed further chances after the break.
In total, Onuachu had eight efforts on goal. And as the game progressed, he became visibly disappointed with his finishing.
Onuachu heads into Areola's hands. He lets out a smile, knowing he should have done better. Yes, the finishing touch is not there, but it feels like goals could flow once he gets one.#SaintsFC
— George Rees-Julian (@rees_julian) December 26, 2024
“I am (desperate to score)," he confessed. "Sometimes I feel so disappointed that I haven’t got a goal for the fans.
“Sometimes I think about it. I will keep working for it. Whenever it comes, it comes. I will keep working for the fans and the team."
Most of Onuachu's chances came from crosses, something they were not set up to do under previous management.
Asked if Juric's style plays to his strengths, Onuachu explained: “It (heading) is a quality that I have but I’ve not played in a long time. It’s going to come.
"The more you play, the more confidence you get. We just have to play to the coach's pattern. The aim for me and the team is to do what we can to stay up.
"I will keep working. Whenever I get my chance to play, I will do what I can for the team. We have to take each game one day at a time and see where it takes us.
"We’ve played different systems. We play holdup and we have a lot of variety in the team. When there is an opportunity we try to target me so I can hold it up.
"Or we can run deep with Arma or Archer. It’s a good philosophy from him (Juric). We will just keep working to see what we can get.
"It has been five days and we have seen a lot of positivity on the pitch."
