Kieran Freeman would be happy to return to Peterhead, but appreciates things are up in the air.
The defender played 14 times for the Blue Toon in the first half of the season, but was recalled by parent club Dundee United last week following the suspension of all football in Scotland below the Championship.
Having experienced some difficult times already in his career because of injury Freeman enjoyed featuring for the Buchan outfit on a regular basis.
The 20-year-old returned to Dundee United last January after three-and-a-half years with Southampton where he required three operations as a result of cruciate ligament and meniscus injuries.
Reflecting on his stint at Balmoor, Freeman said: “I loved my time at Peterhead, I probably played about five different positions, most of which I wouldn’t have thought about playing before.
“But I think the manager Jim McInally has that trait where the whole team just wants to play for him.
“I couldn’t wait for Saturdays to come along. It had been a long few years for me without playing regularly on a Saturday because of injury.
“So to play regularly was great and now I’m sort of back in the same situation.
“It was brilliant playing for Peterhead and playing under Jim McInally.
“I’ve been called back by Dundee United as a result of the lower leagues getting postponed so nobody really knows what will happen.
“If the chance was there to go back to Peterhead I would be happy, or if I end up staying at United or going somewhere else I hope I’m ably to play games.”
Lower league waiting game
Football in Scotland below the Championship has been paused until the end of this month at the earliest and the shutdown could yet go on for longer.
As a result Freeman, who is highly thought of at Tannadice, does not yet know if he will be sent out on loan again.
He added: “I would definitely be open to going back to Peterhead because I’ve loved my time there over the past few months.
“Right now it’s difficult because we’re working off a three week schedule and taking each week as it comes.
“So at the minute I’m just trying to do well in training at Dundee United and go from there.”
Positional positives
Although right-back is his preferred position, Freeman was also employed at centre-back, left-back and in central midfield during his time with Peterhead.
He relished that challenge and tried to learn from some of the Blue Toon’s more experienced players, who have played at higher levels than League One.
“I loved it playing in other positions, I wouldn’t have thought about playing those positions really,” Freeman said.
“But Jim McInally thought when we had injuries, or for tactical reasons, that I could do a job in those positions.
“I felt we did well as a team and got some good results and I loved being part of that wherever I was playing.
“There’s guys there who have been in the position I want to be in, having played at the highest level.
“Players like Gary MacKenzie, Simon Ferry, Ryan Conroy, Scott Brown, Gary Fraser, Steven Boyd, Andrew McCarthy and Derek Lyle.
“They’ve all got good experience and you’ve got to try to learn from them.
“I was a bit of a rookie in some of the positions I played, but they would help you through it and with each game that passed I was more confident.”