Caley Thistle midfielder Aaron Doran says he is making greater demands of himself due to the extensive soul-searching he was forced to do during his long injury absence last season.
Doran was absent for 13 months with a knee injury he suffered last summer, which forced him to undergo a cartilage operation that ruled him out of the entire league campaign.
It was an uncertain time for the 25-year-old, who was in the last year of his contract but was eventually put at ease by a new two-year deal in the summer.
Having now reestablished himself in the Caley Jags side, Doran claims he is pushing himself harder than ever after his campaign of injury frustration.
The Irishman said: “I’m a bit older now and I don’t go out with the lads as much as I used to.
“I’m settled here at the moment. I was out for the whole season last year, so I take pride in my work now.
“I go to training and I try to learn things, while a few years ago I was just going through the motions in training really.
“Now I really look at what I can improve on – I want more goals and I want to help the team move up the table.
“I was injured last year when I was 24. A football career isn’t that long, so I really need to push myself and try and get to the best level I can.
“I’m really knuckling down and I want to do as well as I can. I want to do it as early as I can, so I’m going to try and learn as much as I can and try and help the team.
“I was a bit worried coming towards this time last season but the club has looked after me. Hopefully, I can pay the club back with my performances on the pitch.”
Caley Jags have slipped to the bottom of the Premiership after losing their last four matches but Doran is convinced supporters will see an improvement from the Highlanders against Hamilton Accies today, following a heartfelt midweek discussion among the squad.
He added: “It’s not a good place when we look at the table and we’re bottom of the league but it is really tight.
“There’s a lot of games coming up over the Christmas period. One or two good results and we’re right back up there, so that’s what we’re aiming to do.
“We’ve all been through it. We had a meeting during the week with the captain Gary Warren. It was just a little talk, it was not a crisis meeting or anything like that.
“It’s just little things we need to do on the field and off the field. We know what we have to do and I’m sure we’ll put on a good performance this weekend because we need it.
“We usually do well at home, so we’re looking to pick up the three points. We’re not going in for anything else.”
