Niall McGinn feels like a wanted man again at Aberdeen.
The Dons attacker was one of four players to sign long-term contracts at the club this week, joining Adam Rooney, Lawrence Shankland and Scott McKenna in committing his future to the club, and it is clear manager Derek McInnes has enormous faith in the Northern Ireland international.
Changed days from his time at Celtic where he found himself in and out of favour with several managers before moving south to spend the 2011-12 season on loan at then League 1 club Brentford.
But since returning to Scotland with the Dons in the summer of 2012 McGinn has become a big player in the top flight and is why he readily agreed to extend his stay at the club until the summer of 2017.
He said: “It is nice to know you are wanted at a football club.
“Not so long ago, when I was at Celtic, the manager wanted to take me on loan to St Johnstone.
“It always nice to know the manager wants you. To sign this second extension under him is very good and it is a compliment.
“There are a lot of players out there without contracts so to know I’m wanted is great.”
Under McInnes’ guidance the Dons have quickly established themselves as a force in ultra-competitive Scottish Premiership and added silverware to the Pittodrie boardroom with the League Cup.
But McGinn, in committing his future to the club, believes there is still more to come.
He said: “We have kept eight clean sheets in the last 10 games which has been very good.
“Last season we won a trophy but we were massively disappointed to lose out on second place in the league with the last kick of the ball against Motherwell.
“We want to better that and we are in another semi-final.
“We will concentrate on the next game because it is an important part of the season. It is very tight at the top between ourselves, Inverness, Hamilton and Dundee United. We just want to kick on and build on our run.”
The Dons’ impressive run of results in the league has taken them to within four points of leaders and champions Celtic.
Hoops manager Ronny Deila insists the Dons, Dundee United, Caley Thistle and Hamilton are dangers, but McGinn knows maintaining the challenge will be a huge ask for the chasing pack.
He said: “Celtic haven’t been as consistent as they were last season and they will probably lose another one or two games before the end of the season.
“It is down to us and the other teams to keep our levels of consistency up.
“We need to keep chugging away and picking up the wins and if we do that we will see where it takes us at the end of the season.
“My main concern is to just keep winning games.
“Celtic are still top of the table but haven’t been firing on all cylinders lately.
“Their manager has said they have created chances but aren’t taking as many as they would have liked.
“But they are top of the league and they will keep progressing and winning games.
“It is down to us to keep winning games as well. We will try to be there, but it is a long season and consistency is the main thing.”
Aberdeen have beaten rivals Dundee United and Hamilton this month, but McGinn knows standards must be maintained at Caledonian Stadium tomorrow against Caley Thistle.
He said: “For the league it is good and bringing the bigger crowds back. It makes the games bigger.
“It is good for the league to have Hamilton, Dundee United, Inverness and ourselves up there.
“They are all big occasions and games we need to be win.
“It is very tight and between first and sixth there is only a 12-point gap.”