Former Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie was ready to walk away from Derby County after fearing his move to England had turned sour.
The former Caley Thistle captain, who led Inverness to Scottish Cup glory in 2015 before joining the Dons, moved to the Rams from Aberdeen in the summer only to see the man who signed him, Frank Lampard, depart Pride Park to become Chelsea boss.
The arrival of Phillip Cocu as Lampard’s replacement resulted in Shinnie being left on the periphery under the Dutchman – until he made his debut in the 2-0 win against Luton Town on October 5.
Shinnie insists he did not believe he had made a mistake in moving to the Championship club but did contemplate asking to join another club.
He said: “It was not so much a mistake, because I could never foresee what would happen with Frank Lampard leaving and everything else.
“But there was a stage when I thought if I’m not going to play here then I’ll go and play somewhere else. It’s football. It’s what happens. If one manager doesn’t want you, someone else somewhere else will.
“It was frustrating. Going down to a new club was always going to be difficult, with a new manager coming in and a good squad of players. I always knew it was going to be tough.
“I wasn’t getting any chances. I wasn’t even coming off the bench and some games I was watching from the stands. It was tough.”
Shinnie has grasped his opportunity to become a regular in Cocu’s side, leading to his recall to the Scotland squad for the Euro 2020 matches against Cyprus tomorrow and Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
His return comes after his involvement in the ill-fated 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan, a result which ultimately cost former manager Alex McLeish his job.
Shinnie says there are no mental scars from that night, though, adding: “You are going to have games that test you. It was a bad night, I took the criticism at the time. You have to get over it and move on.”