HIS situation remains the same but Steve Banks is a changed man this season.

The smile is back and there is a determined, positive tone in his voice as he promises Jussi Jaaskelainen a run for his money in the race to be Wanderers' number one.

"I have not accepted the fact that I am going to be on the bench for the rest of the season," says the Reebok keeper. "I'm only thinking on the positive side - I'll be giving everything I've got to get into the team and to stay there."

Banks admits there were times last season when the frustration got to him. Never before had he been forced to content himself with the role of understudy and his reaction led to Sam Allardyce scouring the land for a fresh pair of hands when Jaaskelainen was injured. Jurgen Sommer, Tommy Wright, Matt Clarke ... it seemed it was anyone but Banks.

"I hadn't been used to the situation I was in. I'd always played at Blackpool and Gillingham then all of a sudden I wasn't in the team. I don't think I handled it very well, it got me down a little bit.

"Being suspended then injured didn't help but whether the situation got to me a bit too much ... I don't really know but the gaffer must have felt that. Matt had Premier League experience and I think that was what he was looking at. As things turned out the decision was right but you never know. All we can say is that we got to Cardiff and won and got into the Premier League so it worked out well for us."

Banks has not had to work any harder ("I couldn't work any harder than I was doing!" he says) but he has toughened up mentally and his form has been such that Allardyce says he is no longer searching for a new keeper. In fact it was touch and go whether Jaaskelainen, still short of match fitness after recovering from his knee injury, or Banks, impressive in pre-season, would be handed the jersey at Leicester on the opening day of the season.

"No-one knew the team until the Friday," Banks revealed, "and I was disappointed because of how well pre-season had gone.

"So I went to see the gaffer and told him I wanted him to know I would give everything I've got to push Jussi all the way. He was pleased that I said it because he knows he's got somebody who wants to be at this club and wants to push Jussi hard.

"I'm disappointed, of course I am, but all I have to do is to look at the way Jussi's playing and I can't argue with that. If he's doing that in the Premier League, no matter what I do in the Worthington Cup (he was impressive against Walsall and can expect to play against Nottingham Forest), it's not going to get me in the team unless he loses his form or gets injured - and we don't want that.

"I just want people to know I'm there, working hard, doing as well as I can and, when I get the opportunity, I'll be ready to take it."

Jaaskelainen and Banks might be locked in a fierce competition for the number one job but they are the best of friendly rivals.

"I'm 100 per cent behind Jussi," Banks insists. "We are friends, we get on well and we room together and, hopefully, the pressure I'm putting on him is making him a better goalkeeper" The Londoner, who joined Wanderers just before the transfer deadline in March 1999 and played in the ill-fated play off final against Watford at Wembley, has seen things change drastically at the club since the arrival of Allardyce, who signed him when he was manager at Blackpool. Players' needs come first and a new and enlarged backroom team ensure their requirements are fully catered for.

"I came to the club because it was built to be a Premier League set-up and, as far as I am concerned, it is Premier League," he says.

"The gaffer's brought in 15 or 16 additional staff to cater to the players' needs. There's always someone there if you want to do weight sessions, need a massage, physiotherpy - even psychological things ... everything you really need down to food and liquids. It's a great set up.

"Fordey (Mike Forde the resident sports psychologist) has done a psychological profile that has helped me with the way I look at things, how I react. I see things differently now and I'm happier in myself. I'm a very intense person on the training pitch and in games but now I'm more relaxed and really enjoying the way things have gone this year. It's made me feel a lot better and I'm a better goalkeeper than I ever was.

"In fact the only thing the club can't give me at the moment is the thing I want most - a first team place."

Banks has no intention of settling for second best though and aims to be at the Reebok to enjoy the fruits of their recent hard labours for some time to come.

"I still want to be part of it," he says, "I just have to dig deep and see how things go. Hopefully what I am doing will be good enough for the club. I really want to play in the Premier League and hopefully I will get the chance.

"I have two years on my contract which means I'm guaranteed to be in the Premier League this year and, the way we're going, probably next year as well.

"That's two seasons of opportunity to play in the Premiership - and hopefully more.

"The way the club is going I can see it going on and on and I hope I can be part of that."