Cove Rangers defender Scott Ross was relieved to overcome an injury scare to return to first-team action.
Ross was one of three players forced off during Cove’s 2-1 defeat to Ayr United last month, after picking up an unusual foot injury.
His manager Jim McIntyre was unsure if Ross would be back in time for the weekend, but the experienced centre-back was able to come through 90 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Hamilton Accies unscathed.
He is optimistic he is over the worst of the problem, but described it as an “awkward” injury, which affected his ability to walk.
“The foot is fine, it’s healing well,” said Ross. “I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be in on Saturday or whether it was going to be Morgyn but I was happy to get the nod.
“Because it was on the sole of my foot, there wasn’t much I could do. Anywhere else I could have got on with it, but every step I took, even walking, was a sharp pain.
“I’d mistimed a challenge against Ayr and the guy has toe-poked the bottom of my foot. It was my own fault for mistiming the tackle, but it’s one of those things.
“I thought I did OK on Saturday. Defensively with the first goal, we could have maybe stopped the guy running through before he’s played the ball wide. The second goal we maybe switch off a little bit.
“But credit to us to keep fighting. You can see we’re still there as a team and fighting for each other.”
Ross’ return coincided with the end of Cove’s four-game losing streak, as they twice fought back to claim a creditable draw against Accies.
They are still second-bottom of the table, but Ross hopes it is the sign of a corner being turned for the Aberdeen side.
“We probably were the better team and kept the ball well,” said Ross. “We maybe didn’t have the cutting edge at times, but we dug in when we had to and Jamie scored an unbelievable goal to get us back in.
“That wee lapse in concentration let them go ahead again, when the momentum was with us, but it was good to get that second goal. Credit to Jamie and Leighton for coming off the bench to get the goals for us.
“I feel like we’re not getting the luck at the moment. A couple of penalties have gone against us in the last few weeks. I don’t know if it was on Saturday or not (handball against Daniel O’Reilly), but sometimes you get them and the momentum goes with you further.
“Luck will swing and it will come our way soon hopefully.”
Ross also reserved praise for midfielder Charlie Gilmour, who has moved into a holding midfield role by McIntyre for the last two games.
“I wasn’t there last week, but I heard Charlie played well and he had a great game this week, in that hole (in front of the defence). He seems to be doing that job (Connor) Scully has been doing for us,” said Ross.
“Charlie has got that wee bit of composure – he’ll take the ball in horrible areas, so it’s good for myself and (Mark) Reynolds to have someone like that in front.”