Cove Rangers defender Josh Kerr is raring to make his comeback on the pitch after being sidelined with a broken ankle since late August.
Kerr – who signed for Cove in the summer after leaving Irish side Bohemians – broke his ankle against Queen of the South in only his fourth League One game for his new club.
It was a devastating blow for Kerr as he looked to hit the ground running with Cove, but he can be glad the worst is now behind him as he was named in a match-day squad for the first time since the injury on Saturday.
Kerr was an unused substitute against Kelty Hearts as Cove won their fourth successive League One match – and they now sit third in the table with 19 points.
The opportunities for Kerr to make his return to the pitch will likely come soon, as Cove host fourth-placed Montrose on Tuesday night in a rescheduled fixture as part of a busy schedule.
To get back playing will be a relief for Kerr, who said: “I’m quite mentally strong because I have been through a lot in my life, so making sure I stayed like that during the injury rehab was the biggest part for me.
“You have to accept the fact you are going to be out for a while and you have just got to stay positive.
“It’s how football works – just as you get too high something happens which brings you down a peg or two.
“When I first came up to Cove I thought we were starting to hit a bit of form and got a good result against Falkirk (2-2) – and I scored – and then we beat Montrose. I felt I was starting to get a bit momentum with my performances.
“It was a freak injury. I could receive the ball the way I did 100 times and it wouldn’t have happened. My foot just got stuck in the ground and it was just very unfortunate.
“To finally get back on the pitch will be a relief.
“It will be the time for me to really kick on and, hopefully, we can achieve something this year.”
With Cove on such a good run of form, the defender is aware he may have to bide his time before he nails down a place in the team.
Kerr added: “It’s healthy competition. The boys have done well recently, so I know I am not just going to come back and walk straight into the team.
“I need to manage my return because everything I have done so far has been staggered and monitored.
“I can’t come back in and be playing 90 minutes right away.
“I’ll wait for my chance – but I’ll definitely be ready.”
Ex-rival Kerr sees no reason Cove can’t emulate winning run of 21-22 League One title campaign
Having been on the other side of a phenomenal run of Cove form in a previous season, Kerr hopes his new club can extend their current seven-game unbeaten run this term.
The defender said: “I look back to when I was at Airdrie and we were challenging Cove to get promoted.
“We went on a 21 or 22-game unbeaten run and that broke a club record, but Cove were above us and hadn’t been beaten in something like 25 or 26 games.
“We’ve got a lot of games left and there is nothing to say that we couldn’t go on that sort of run again.
“The boys have realised how difficult this league is and you really can’t be complacent – it was a harsh reality at the start of the season.
“You can’t just rock up to these places in the league.
“Every team in this league are fighting and their players are fighting because a lot of them are part-time and their clubs mean a lot to them.
“We’ve put some really good results together recently and it’s just about keeping up that momentum because that is huge in this league.”
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