Jonny Hayes believes he now has the maturity required to play at the highest level after his move to Aberdeen.
The Irishman, who has signed a new deal to extend his stay at Pittodrie until the summer of 2018, is convinced that swapping Inverness for the Granite City in 2012 has helped to make him a more rounded player.
Hayes, who was this week joined by defender Andy Considine in signing a new deal, has added defensive qualities to his game – something he claims would not have been possible when he first arrived at Pittodrie.
He said: “I am a better player now, even though I scored a lot more goals and had a few more assists in my game at Inverness. I had more of a free role with Caley Thistle but I’ve made the transition to playing for a so-called bigger club.
“During that earlier phase of my career, I don’t think I could have played in the variety of positions I have lately There’s no way I could have played at left back, for example, but now I have a lot more trust from the manager.
“Whether it’s away games in Europe or at the likes of Celtic Park he is quite happy to put me on the wing, in a central area or even at full back.
“He knows that I am a more consistent player now and that I have matured in terms of it being more about the team now.
“At Inverness it was more about what I could do as an individual, but the more you grow up the more you realise it’s about the team. There are some matches when you have to concentrate more on putting in a shift – which is what it was like on Sunday.
“I didn’t feel I played well against Caley Thistle and I really didn’t enjoy the match at all but we dug out the three points and that’s all that mattered.”
Hayes helped the Dons end 19 years of hurt by winning the League Cup in March and, as he prepares to start the new year tomorrow with the visit of St Johnstone, the Dubliner hopes 2015 can be an even better one for the Dons.
Aberdeen are two points behind champions Celtic in the Scottish Premiership and, while Hayes admits to being surprised the Hoops are not cruising towards another title, he is relishing the chance to put pressure on them.
He said: “The aim now has to be to try to bridge the gap between ourselves and Celtic and defend our crown in the League Cup.
“I’m surprised we are so close to Celtic but someone was saying we are in the second-tightest top four or five in Europe.
“Everyone is surprised Celtic have dropped so many points this season as normally you expect them to be 10 or 12 points clear by Christmas. But their focus at the minute is probably on the Europa League.
“With the squad they have, they can afford to concentrate on that and then turn their full attention to the Premiership when it gets serious in February, March time.
“That’s when we will probably see them pull away but for ourselves, Dundee United, Inverness and Hamilton it’s good to still be close to them.
“We know that the gap isn’t too much now but it’s only halfway through the season and you would expect Celtic to pull away by the end of it. If we can get closer to them by then than we were at the end of last season we will be happy.
“We hopefully have two games left in the League Cup and the league to focus on, while Celtic have two domestic cups and the Europa League, leaving them fighting on four fronts.”