Alan Pollock wants to make up for lost time and help Rothes into the Scottish Cup second round after illness and injury spoiled his start to the season.
The Speysiders face Midlands League side Carnoustie Panmure at Laing Park in round one on Saturday.
Pollock has only recently returned to the Rothes line-up after a frustrating pre-season.
The 32-year-old midfielder said: “In pre-season, I got chickenpox from my daughter – I’d never had it before and I felt really ill.
“I had three weeks out with that and it was torture really.
Following on from their win yesterday we will now face @TheGowfers away from home in the @ScottishCup First Round on September the 17th.
3pm kick off at Laing Park.
🍊🟠⚫️ #MonTheSpeysiders pic.twitter.com/uFMWorfxZp— Rothes FC (@RothesFC) September 4, 2022
“Then after that I was on holiday, came back and picked up an injury which kept me out for four weeks.
“So I’ve been playing catch-up, but I’m feeling pretty good now and feel like I’m getting up to speed.”
Pollock thinks Rothes can make cup inroads – despite poor start in league
With a number of players missing through injury, Rothes have only collected eight points from eight Breedon Highland League fixtures.
Their North of Scotland Cup defence ended at the semi-final stage, but Pollock says there’s plenty still to play for – starting with the Scottish Cup.
He added: “We’re going there believing we can get to the next round which would be a massive boost for everyone.
“Hopefully we can do that and get through to the next round.
“We’ve got good quality in the squad, but haven’t started like we have done in previous years.
“But, if we get going, we could have a say in terms of who wins the league. We won’t win it, but we could impact it by taking points off teams challenging at the top.
“With the squad we’ve got, we could compete for the Highland League Cup and hopefully progress in the Scottish Cup.
“The third round would be my own target and we’ll see how we get on.
“We just have to keep plugging away and get back to basics.”