Caley Thistle manager Richie Foran believes anger at being written off after injury has lit the fire under midfielder Aaron Doran – along with the love of a good woman.
The manager has a selection headache for tomorrow’s home match against Kilmarnock given his fellow Irishman’s impact from the bench against Rangers.
Doran is a transformed figure on the training ground, showing greater maturity and desire than ever before.
The former Blackburn Rovers player’s talent and trickery has never been in question but his consistency and application occasionally has.
And a serious knee cartilage operation after the Europa League qualifiers against Astra Giurgiu in July 2015 had some asking if Doran would ever recapture past form.
According to Foran, fellow Dubliner Doran is being driven by a desire to prove his doubters wrong after missing almost of all of last season through injury.
The 25-year-old underwent a knee operation after last July’s Europa League qualifying tie against Romanians Astra Giurgiu and has been waiting since the summer for his first start of the campaign.
Foran said: “Aaron has become a real strong character. I’ve seen a change in him. He’s become a leader now on the training ground, whereas he wasn’t in the past. There’s a real desire and focus since he’s come back from the injury.
“That’s on and off the park. He’s become a better person. I’ve definitely seen a change.
“It is probably down to a few people questioning whether he was ever going to come back to his strongest after injury.
“He gets some stick at times. People might think he has a weight issue, which he doesn’t as his body fat is one of the lowest at the club.
“That’s just his physique. I think he wants to show people he’s going to come back, not the same, but even better.”
Doran has, in the past, made headlines for the wrong reasons but Foran feels those misdemeanours are in the past and added: “He’s 25 now and he’s got a good woman behind him now, which definitely helps – I can vouch for that.
“They settle you right down and he’s in a real good place at the moment in terms of his football and life off the pitch.
“He’s just now waiting for his chance to start a game and he’s waiting patiently.
“He’s going about it the right way. There’s a bit of an anger in him I can see on the training ground. But he’s turning that anger into positive training sessions and turning it into hard work – reacting in the right way when he’s not starting games.
“He’s definitely ready and it’s just about when he gets his chance.”
