Danny Mullen says he is ready to lend St Mirren a hand in their bid to climb the table after being sidelined for a month with a wrist injury.
The 23-year-old sustained the problem against Hamilton and was ruled out of clashes against Hibernian and Aberdeen at a time when new boss Oran Kearney needed all the firepower he could get.
He returned to face Kilmarnock last weekend and while that clash with Steve Clarke’s men also ended in defeat, Mullen felt all the better for at least being able to contribute.
Now the former Livingston forward – who netted his first ever top-flight goal against Dundee in the Buddies’ only win of the season way back on the opening day of the campaign – hopes he can chip in for a winning effort against St Johstone in Perth on Saturday.
He said: “The wrist is still not fully recovered but it’s getting there and I can now play through the pain. Now I’m looking forward to playing my part.
“It was really frustrating having to sit and watch the team struggle.
“The team were playing well but there were spells where we would just step off the gas and that is when the difference would come in the game.
“I think everyone goes through the same emotions when you’re sitting in the stands. You just want to be out there and nod the ball over the line or be putting in the last-ditch tackles.
“I got off to the perfect start with a goal on my first Premiership start but I’ve picked up the wrist injury and it’s been stop-start since then.
“But I’m back now and I’m looking forward to helping the boys out. It doesn’t matter if I score or it’s someone else, hopefully we can get a positive result against St Johnstone.”
Mullen was part of Jack Ross’ squad which romped to promotion from the Championship last term.
Kearney has been called in to replace Alan Stubbs after he was appointed as Ross’ successor in the summer, and Mullen is confident the Northern Irishman will get things right after five games without a win.
He said: “The spirit is still there but we’ve taken a dent in confidence. We knew when we came up to this league that it’s not always going to be plain sailing.
“But once we get the first win under the new manager it will be a snowball effect and we’ll kick on from that.”
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Newport, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '35d91244-9d67-412c-806f-2844d99befcc');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Mullen determined to play part in a Buddies bounce'});
