Ryan Hedges hopes he has timed his return from injury to perfection to help push Aberdeen towards third in the Scottish Premiership.
The Wales international returned from a pectoral injury one day short of three months to score what proved to be the winning goal as the Dons beat Livingston 2-1 to secure European football for an eighth year in a row.
The win also moves Aberdeen to within three points of third-placed Hibernian with two games remaining and with the two sides due to go head-to-head at Pittodrie next Wednesday the Dons are back in the hunt.
Hedges said: “On the whole it has been a poor season for our standards but we have two games now to put it right. Hibs come to us a week on Wednesday which is a massive game for us and hopefully we are still within reach of third place.
“I’ve been out for three months nearly to the day so it is nice to be back playing amongst the boys and to top it off with a goal was even sweeter.
“My pec tendon came out the bone so I needed surgery to reattach it and stints to hold it in place but the surgery went really well and the recovery and rehabilitation process has been really good.
“I can’t think the physio team here enough for all the work they have done with me to get me back way ahead of schedule.
“It wasn’t a nice one and I had four weeks of being in a sling not being able to do much. Since then we’ve kicked on and thankfully I’m back playing rather than watching from the stands.
“Four to six months was the original diagnosis and I thought I’d be lucky to see pre-season so all credit goes to the physios, Adam Stokes and my willingness to work at it and get back among the boys.”
Hedges’ first appearance for new manager Stephen Glass was certainly an impactful one as he scored within five minutes of his appearance from the bench.
The attacker enjoyed his 20 minute cameo and hopes he has shown enough to be involved again in the final two fixtures against Hibs and Rangers.
He said: “It’s always nice under a new manager to be playing games and hopefully now I have two more games to show what I can do to put myself in contention for next season.
“Just to get on was nice for me but to top it off with a goal was the best way it could have ended. We’ll see how my body reacts to playing during the week and see where I’m at. If I’m on the bench and can make an impact like I did at Livingston then great, but if I can start then that would be perfect.”