WHEN 37-year-old veteran goalkeeper Shaka Hislop returned for his second spell at Upton Park during the summer, he knew that he was likely to spend most of the season on the sidelines.
But with first choice keeper Roy Carroll hit by a series of injuries this term, culminating in the back injury that has now ended his season, Hislop has been given a new lease of life.
On Sunday he kept a clean sheet as West Ham booked their place in the FA Cup Final and the Trinidad international is loving every minute of it.
"As I have said before, I came here to push Roy Carroll and get the best out of him and if I did that and he served the club well then I would have done my job," he said.
"I took that job very seriously, kept myself well prepared and in good shape and unfortunately with Roy getting his injury, it has seen me get a run in the team.
"When that time came I felt I was in good form and I fitted into the team quite easily."
He was certainly in good form on Sunday, making a superb save from Franck Queudrue's curling free kick as Boro looked for an equaliser, but he had to trust to luck when the ball fell to Chris Riggott in the area during injury time.
"I feared the worst," revealed Hislop. "But I think perhaps he had a little bit too much time and he dwelled too long and pulled his shot, so I was chuffed to see it go wide to say the least."
At 37 most footballers would expect their moments of glory to be in the past, but for the former Reading, Newcastle and Portsmouth man, it looks like they are just beginning as the FA Cup final will be followed by a trip to Germany this summer for the World Cup finals.
"It means I've got the biggest and most exciting summer coming up of my whole career," he reflected. "I have got into the FA Cup final with a club I love dearly and I am also going to play in a World Cup, so sometimes I have to pinch myself to prove that it is all real."
Hislop even has a theory on why the unfancied Hammers have done so well this season.
"In think we have taken a lot of people by surprise but maybe not ourselves," he said.
"We approached the season with the sole intention of enjoying it, knowing that if we did that then with the sort of players we have, especially the youngsters, we would acquit ourselves quite well.
"We started well and I think strangely that our inexperience worked in our favour. Our naivety has been punished but it has also taken us to places that not many expected us to go."
There is certainly no naivety in Hislop's game, though his trip to Cardiff will be the first time he has played at the Millennium Stadium.
"I played at Wembley with Reading but this will be the first time in Cardiff," he confirmed.
"At 37, I have been involved in this game professionally in the UK for 14 years and I have seen a few things in my time, but now suddenly a lot of things have come at once, like buses, but I am going to enjoy it and what happens after, we will see."
What happens next could be West Ham glory in the FA Cup and if that happens, no-one will deserve it more than Shaka Hislop.