Rowan Vine already knows what it's like to be part of a promotion-winning team — but he also knows if it happens again with Birmingham City over the next month then that will be a whole new ball game.
The Blues striker played a key role in getting Luton Town up to this level two seasons ago. But the size of the prize now on offer for Vine at St Andrew's — to be a Premiership player — does not compare.
That is why, even when forced to play out of position against Coventry City as the wide left stand-in for suspended duo Gary McSheffrey and Julian Gray, Vine was so clearly willing to give his all.
The closest he has so far got to English football's top flight was in the summer of 2003 when, following his return to newly-promoted Portsmouth from a successful season's loan at Brentford, he found Fratton Park buzzing with expectancy.
But the nearest he got to any Premiership action was Pompey's pre-season team photo and he was instead farmed out for another season on loan at Colchester United, his next step before the move to Luton which preceded his #2.3 million move to Blues.
Having swapped one end of the Championship table for the other when he headed north to the Midlands in January, the hungry Vine recognises just what is at stake.
"Everyone wants to play anywhere," said Vine. "There is a real commitment to do what it takes to get into the Premiership. When you are in this position the whole club needs to be pulling in the right direction.
"And, if the manager is happy with you playing in a different position then obviously you are happy.
"I played wide left just once for Luton but had nearly a year there the season I was on loan at Colchester, so it wasn’t as if I was just thrown in there.
"I know how to play there, and I enjoyed myself at the weekend. But I am definitely a striker.
"It was just unfortunate that Gary was suspended and Julian too. We needed someone to fill the void. And it was a compliment from the gaffer and Eric that they thought I could do the job."
With McSheffrey, Blues' top scorer and generally regarded as the most productive player in the league, seemingly sure to return to the team for Saturday's game with Burnley, Vine might have found himself squeezed out by Cole's arrival.
But Cole's untimely hamstring injury, which will continue to sideline him over the Easter weekend, means that Bruce has another tough decision to make up front. In the wake of Cameron Jerome's continued discomfort in front of goal on Sunday, Vine is the most likely option alongside a rejuvenated Nicklas Bendtner up front — if only for his prodigious work rate.
"When we were signing Viney," said Bruce, "we knew the Blues fans would like him because he gives you everything he's got.
"It might not have been much fun playing in the mud when our pitch was its worst, but he revelled in it. He chased everything down and showed just how much he wants to win."
Vine might not yet have found the knack of scoring as regularly as he did at Kenilworth Road, but it is clear that this is one striker solely concerned with team, not individual, glory.
This Saturday's date with relegation battlers Burnley is the first of Blues' two top-versus-bottom battles over the Easter weekend, the second being Monday's trip to Barnsley, in which he can do some good for his old team-mates at Luton.
For Vine, that will be just an added bonus, compared to what is stake for Blues.
"Everything around the club has now got a little buzz about it," he said. "With Andy Cole coming in, all the strikers know we have to raise our game. Although sometimes people can get left out and might be unhappy, we are all here to do a job for the team and we're now in a fantastic position.
"I certainly wouldn’t be grumbling if I found myself out of the team because I know it’s a squad effort and we all need to be pulling in the right direction."
