Nicky Maynard is ready to repay the faith shown in him after making the decision to rejoin Derek McInnes at Aberdeen.
The Englishman played under McInnes at Bristol City before joining West Ham United in a £1.5million transfer in January, 2012.
His career has stalled since leaving Ashton Gate, but McInnes has given the 30-year-old the chance to restore his reputation as a prolific scorer by handing him a one-year contract at Pittodrie.
The chance to work with McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty is one Maynard has jumped at and the attacker, who played last season for MK Dons, is eager to make the most of his fresh start in Scottish football.
He said: “It’s exciting to be here. I’m looking forward to it. We’ve been in talks for a few days now and it’s just one of them that you know is going to happen but you don’t know when it is going to happen. Finally we’ve managed to get it over the line and I’m looking forward to a good season.
“We weren’t together for that long at Bristol City, because I moved on to West Ham, but the time we were together I enjoyed. I think they know what is best for me and how to get the best out of me. I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can be very successful this season.
“It’s always good to work with someone that you’ve already worked with instead of going into the unknown, if you like.
“I know what to expect and they know what to expect of me. Sometimes you have that relationship when you have a manager who you know believes in you and you can go into that and know that he’s going to have your back no matter what.
“I’m quite close with Joe Lewis and he’s been talking with me about Aberdeen and how good it is and how great the fans are.
“Joe had good things to say and it made my decision happen a bit quicker. My main reason for coming was to work with the gaffer again and the chance to play in Europe. The club’s got ambition and I hope to meet those ambitions.
“Working with the manager again will help me kick on even more. The fact that Aberdeen has come on a lot and are competing for the Championship and playing in Europe as well made it an easy decision.”
McInnes believes Maynard will thrive on the service his team-mates will provide at Pittodrie and the forward is certainly not lacking in confidence after setting his sights on challenging for the league championship with his new club.
He said: “The last couple of seasons, although I’ve been injury free, I haven’t really fulfilled my goalscoring potential. For whatever reason that is, I just feel it’s good to get a change. I just feel the Doc and the gaffer will get the best out of me.
“As a striker that is the main reason I signed because if i am going to get three or four good chances a game, I would expect to score one or two. I always go into a game expecting to score and i would be disappointed if I got one or two good chances and didn’t put at least one away.
“It used to be a two horse race back in the day but now there’s more teams competing for the championship. Aberdeen are up there now and hopefully we can kick on from there.
“I would like to think we can challenge Celtic. For me personally, I don’t go into a season expecting to finish second. I always want to win. Whether I’m being unrealistic or not, I don’t know, but I feel like we can challenge them.”