HE is fast approaching his 36th birthday, but Middlesbrough goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos admits he is as hungry as ever to succeed after reclaiming the number one jersey on Teesside.

The Greek stopper had to bide his time upon arriving back in the North-East having spent four years at Hartlepool United from 2003, and it’s fair to say his journey to becoming Boro’s first-choice hasn’t exactly been straight-forward.

Twelve months ago he couldn’t have been further from the first-team picture with Jason Steele and Jayson Leutwiler ahead of him in the pecking order.

When Steele was sent off in Aitor Karanka’s first game in charge, the club moved to bring in the experienced Shay Given, and it wasn’t until the Irishman’s loan spell finished in March that the Greek keeper finally got a chance to impress.

He did enough to persuade Karanka to stick with him for the rest of the season and Konstantopoulos repaid the Spaniard with a string of superb displays.

At that stage, Konstantopoulos must have thought he’d finally done enough to be regarded as Boro’s first-choice keeper, but Karanka made the surprise move to start the season with Tomas Mejias in goal.

It was a decision that knocked Konstantopoulos, but he remained focused on regaining his place, but now that he has the 35-year-old knows better than to sit back and relax.

“My goal when I joined Middlesbrough was always to play because I always believed in myself. I knew I could play,” Konstantopoulos said. “I knew that as soon as I got settled in and got to meet the lads and blend in with the team, whenever I get the chance I will prove to the manager that I can play.

“I've never been the sort of player who is complacent and just relaxes or is happy being third choice and not care, no matter how old I get I will always have the hunger.

“When I don't have that hunger I will stop.”

Konstantopoulos had to wait until the trip to Huddersfield on September 13 to get his first league start of the campaign, but since then both he and Boro haven’t looked back.

He has kept four clean sheets in nine games, while Karanka’s men have shot up the Championship table and sit fifth and only two points off top.

“Since I started playing we've been picking up points, we've been playing well and we've been winning,” said the keeper.

“I try to do my part of the business and try to help the boys because it's a genuine team effort every game, especially when it comes to defending, the lads from the front try to help as well.

“We've had a good run of games and we've been quite solid at the back so I'm pleased with that.

“It's always hard (being left out), every player wants to play, no matter what.

“If you don't believe in yourself you shouldn't be in the game but on the other hand you have to respect your manager's decisions.

“Especially in our position, it's different from other positions, you can only name one goalkeeper, so you have to bide your time. If you are not playing you have to try everyday to show the manger you can play and you want to play and wait for your chance.

“Ultimately that's what I tried to do and I think the fact that I had experience helped me keep a cool head because I've been in that situation before.”

Karanka’s decision to reinstall the former AEK Athens keeper came after Mejias made a serious of errors in the defeats to Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday.

Having dropped a few clangers during his own career, Konstantopoulos knows being a goalkeeper requires a thick skin, and he believes the Spanish keeper has the mental strength to come back bigger and better.

He said: “In any other position on the field, if you make a mistake there's somebody behind you to cover. In our position there's only the net.

“It's a responsible position on the pitch and it requires a lot of mental concentration.

“The game lasts 90 minutes but even if you don't have anything to do you have to concentrate all the time just in case you are required to do something.

“But in my career I've been through situations like that and if you come through those situations it makes you stronger.

“No matter whether it's you team-mate or not when you see another goalkeeper make a mistake you cringe because you know how it is.

“Obviously we are a team and we all concede as a team and we all score as a team.

“Tomas's situation – he's been under criticism - it's part of the game – but he's a very good keeper, he was at Real Madrid for a reason, he's trained with the best and played with the best and I think he's got a lot of potential.”