Midfielder Blair Yule is determined to make up for lost time after finally making his first appearance of the season for Cove Rangers.
An ankle injury meant Yule was forced to watch from the sidelines as Cove adjusted to life in the Championship under new boss Jim McIntyre.
Yule came off the bench to help the Aberdeen side earn a 2-2 draw at Partick Thistle last weekend thanks to Mark Reynolds’ late double.
The 30-year-old said: “It has been a long time coming but hopefully it is the start of making some contributions towards the team.
“It has been tough as this has been the longest I have spent on the sidelines.
“I have been pretty lucky so far with injuries.
“I was happy to get on for any minutes at all but to get a good 10 to 15 minutes was great.
“Hopefully I can now start adding up some minutes and get back to enjoying playing in the team.”
Hopes point at Firhill can help Cove build momentum
Cove sit second bottom in the Championship with five points from their opening seven games in the second tier.
Yule hopes an unlikely point at Firhill can help his side build some momentum for the coming weeks.
Yule said: “It has been difficult for the guys as we have been playing some quality, full-time opposition.
“Watching from the side and not being able to contribute has been tough.
“I have been able to play the majority of minutes in the last few seasons and been able to help.
“It is early in the season and we are still learning how to adapt to this league.
“Teams have more of the ball than we are used to, but it will take time.
“We were maybe a bit fortunate against Partick to come away with a point after the end of the first half.
“That just showed our spirit to keep going.
“But in the 2-2 draw against Hamilton in our previous game, I thought we did more than enough to win.
“If we can keep this run going and get a win on Saturday it will start building confidence.
“Once you have that confidence it makes a huge difference to how a team plays.”
Adapting to new manager McIntyre
Yule is hoping he gets another chance to be on the pitch for this weekend’s SPFL Trust Trophy third round tie against Raith Rovers at Balmoral Stadium.
The midfielder is eager to show new manager McIntyre what he can do.
He said: “I have spoken to the manager a lot, but I haven’t really had the chance to play during his time here.
“I can pick up bits and pieces about his style from watching on the side, but hopefully over the next few weeks I can start building a stronger relationship.
“It takes time to adapt to what a new manager wants. I feel we are getting there.”
Cove defeated Raith 2-0 on the opening day of the Championship season but the Kirkcaldy side head north with confidence following a 3-2 victory against early Championship pacesetters Ayr United.
Yule added: “Raith are a very good side who play really good football.
“In the first league game, they had a lot of chances and we rode our luck at times.
“We were clinical at the opposite end, which is what we need to be.
“I expect another difficult game – but it is one we know we can win.”
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