Nairn County’s Fraser Dingwall is thrilled to be on the verge of a return action – because he gets agitated watching from the sidelines.
The 23-year-old – who has penned a contract extension to remain at Station Park until the summer of 2023 – has been out injured since July.
Defender Dingwall tore his medial ligament in the warm-up ahead of the Wee County’s game with Deveronvale on July 31.
However, he is on the verge of returning and said: “I’m over moon to be just about back playing because I’ve been lost without it because I love playing that much.
“And when I go to watch I’m not a good watcher, I get agitated on the sideline and can’t seem to keep my mouth shut.
“It’s fair say I’m not a good watcher, I think it’s because I’m desperate to be out there and I’m desperate for the boys to win.
“I think I’m cooler when I’m playing rather than watching on the sidelines.
“When I’m on the park I don’t feel the same pressure I feel standing at the side.
“Being on the side I can’t influence the game and it’s a horrible feeling wanting to be out there but you can’t be because of injury.”
Pleased to be back
Dingwall has returned to training and has come back quite quickly from his injury.
He added: “I’ve just returned to training and I’m feeling solid again.
“It’s been a struggle over the last few months trying to stay positive but I can’t thank Nairn and the physio Andy Murray enough.
“They’ve helped me massively and they’ve got me back.
“I tore the cartilage, the medial ligament in my knee and I needed keyhole surgery.
“Thankfully a week after I did I got an MRI and then a week later I got my surgery so I was delighted with how quickly it happened.
“I wanted to get back playing as soon as possible and I needed to get back to my work.”
Extension was easy call
Dingwall is in his fourth season with Nairn after joining from North Caledonian League side Invergordon in 2018.
And he says the decision to extend his stay with the club was an easy one.
He said: “It was pretty straightforward. Nairn is a good club and I’m delighted to signing on again.
“I’ve loved every minute of it since I joined so it was an easy decision to sign on again.
“It’s a really close-knit club and you feel part of a family. The fans are great to play for and they get right behind us.
“Everyone is very close at the club and everyone gets on and there’s never any drama. Nairn’s a brilliant club to play for.”
