Martin Maclean is eager to start contributing to the Brora Rangers cause again after three months on the sidelines.
The midfielder has returned after an Achilles problem sustained in mid-August.
Since joining the Cattachs in 2012 Maclean has rarely been sidelined by injury and hasn’t enjoyed this spell out of action.
The 30-year-old said: “I think that’s the longest I’ve been out with injury so I’ve been quite lucky over the years.
“Hopefully that will be the last one for a while because as you get older they take longer to recover from.
“I didn’t realise at the time that it would take quite so long to recover.
“It’s quite frustrating when you’re not involved, but I’m back now.
“Once I got injured the team started winning again – so I’m not sure what that says about me.
“But once Craig Campbell took over a few more players came in and we started winning again and built up good momentum.
“There have been a couple of setbacks along the way and it was frustrating for me personally when you’re stuck on the sidelines going to watch.”
Maclean wants to keep Cattachs in title hunt
During Maclean’s injury absence Craig Campbell was appointed as permanent successor to Steven Mackay, who stepped down as Brora manager in August.
Maclean is keen to be involved under the new boss after making his comeback as a substitute against Wick Academy 10 days ago.
He is also determined to help Brora compete in the Breedon Highland League title race.
The Sutherland side are currently fifth in the table, seven points behind leaders Fraserburgh with a game in hand.
He added: “I’m trying to get my fitness back up to a good level and keep getting more minutes.
“But the boys in my position are playing really well and the team is winning so it won’t be easy to get back in the team.
“I’ll keep working hard and trying to get more minutes.
“I’ve not really been able to contribute since Craig Campbell and Neil Macdonald took charge.
“But the team’s winning every week and we’re keeping the pressure on the teams above and keeping the gap as small as possible.
“There’s a lot of teams there who can take points off each other and I don’t think there’s one team that will run away with it like what has happened in the past.
“The Rothes result against Fraserburgh helped a few teams and I think it will be exciting until the end of the season.”