Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Keatings’ goalscoring form rekindles hunger for football

INVERNESS, SCOTLAND - August 30: Inverness' James Keatings celebrates his second goal during the Ladbrokes Championship tie between Inverness CT and Greenock Morton, on August 30, 2019, at Caledonian Stadium, in Inverness. (Photo by Bill Murray / SNS Group)
INVERNESS, SCOTLAND - August 30: Inverness' James Keatings celebrates his second goal during the Ladbrokes Championship tie between Inverness CT and Greenock Morton, on August 30, 2019, at Caledonian Stadium, in Inverness. (Photo by Bill Murray / SNS Group)

Caley Thistle forward James Keatings feels quickly settling into life in the Highlands has helped him to rediscover his goalscoring form.

Keatings joined Inverness in the summer after leaving Premiership side Hamilton Accies, with his double in Friday’s 5-0 triumph over Morton taking him to three goals for the campaign.

Hip surgery during a stint with Dundee United two years ago restricted Keatings’ game time with the Tannadice outfit, with the lack of action causing the 27-year-old to fall out of love with the game.

Keatings feels thriving in his new surroundings can rekindle his hunger, and he said: “Obviously coming here I’m away from home with my little girl down the road, but it was about coming here and getting fit and enjoying football again after a period of two years where I can’t recall a game I enjoyed and life in general was tough.

“Up here is a lovely place to live and the boys in the dressing room and the manager and backroom staff have been amazing with me and I’m getting there. I’m fitter but it’s about not pushing it too far and just taking it game by game and keep building on that.

“The football can act as a pick me up. The two years I had was dragging me down. With injuries Friday nights were worst sitting in the house knowing I wouldn’t be playing the next day. There was no buzz and I wouldn’t even go to watch games because it had reached the stage when it was dragging me down so much.

“When you’re fit and playing and taking part it gives you a buzz and the hunger back. Nights like Friday give you a fire in your stomach and that’s what I missed the last few years.”

Keatings has achieved promotion from the Championship on three separate occasions with Hamilton, Hearts and Hibernian, and he feels Caley Jags manager John Robertson can help him get back to his best.

He added: “It’s about rediscovering my form. Earlier in my career I showed what I could do but the past two or three years my problems off the pitch have been well documented and I’ve had injuries too.

“I’ve now scored three goals and had a few assists but I’ve not set myself a target, other than my own target of playing as many games as I can and get as fit as I can and believe in myself.

“Coming here I knew the manager from my time at Hearts and always kept in contact and when he showed interest I knew it was a manager who believed in me and knew what I could do so coming up here it was a chance for me.”