United States international Bobby Wood made the most of his return to Hamburg's starting formation on Tuesday as he scored a brace in their 4-0 victory over third-tier club Halle.
The win secured Hamburg's passage to the round of 16 of the DFB Pokal and ended the club's scoring drought.
Wood had come off the bench in Hamburg's last two Bundesliga matches, which saw the club drop to bottom of the league. But on Tuesday, the 23-year-old attacker returned to Markus Gisdol's starting XI.
Wood said he wants to continue to fight for a starter's role.
"Naturally I want to be a starter and have success with the team," Wood said. "Moreover, I want to make progress in the national team and that's only possible when I also play at the club."
It took the former Union Berlin striker only eight minutes to put his name on the score sheet, and end HSV's goalless run of nearly 10 hours.
Minutes before half-time, he doubled Hamburg's lead, with the guests then cruising to a 4-0 win at Halle.
Der 'Man of the Match' aus Halle! ��Glückwunsch, Bobby! #HFCHSV #nurderHSV b pic.twitter.com/QRHn3dNknh
- Hamburger SV (@HSV) October 25, 2016
They were his third and fourth goals this season and his first scoring since Sept. 10.
"Whenever I play, I want to show everything. But that's only possible with a team performance. We all did a good job at Halle, not only me," Wood told reporters following his brace.
Wood said that he did not allow himself to get down about the two consecutive exclusions from the starting formation. He said he relied on his high "self-motivation" and his goals with the national team to continue working despite the setback.