Aaron Doran is grateful for the opportunity to return to Hampden Park having feared for his future shortly after winning the Scottish Cup on his last visit to the national stadium.
Doran was part of Inverness’ side which triumphed over Falkirk in 2015, with the Irishman providing the assist for Marley Watkins’ opening goal in the 2-1 win.
The triumph brought the curtain down on a memorable season for the Highlanders, who were rewarded with a Europa League tie against Romanian side FC Astra just two months later.
That was when Doran’s euphoria turned to despair, with the winger forced to undergo a cruciate ligament operation in the wake of the 1-0 aggregate defeat, which kept him out for 13 months.
Doran agonisingly suffered the same injury on his opposite knee in 2017, but goes into tomorrow’s Scottish Cup semi final against Hearts on excellent form having won the Ladbrokes Championship player of the month award for March.
Following his tortuous road to recovery, Doran is all the more thankful for another Hampden outing.
He said: “When I heard I would be out for nine to 12 months with my first knee injury it was tough. During the 2015 cup final I felt something, but nothing that would stop me playing. Coming into the Europa League games it was so painful. I came off the plane and I couldn’t walk and I knew it was serious.
“I went from the high of the final to the low of injury. I came back and played for four or five months and then I did my other knee.
“It was tough to take, I was pretty down for a while. I went to the gym every day and that can be difficult.
“In my head I thought ‘will I ever get back to playing at this level again? Or would I be the same player as I was?’ It is a long time away from the game and everyone with those injuries would think the same. But right now I am feeling good and strong.
“I should be hitting my prime in the next year or two and I am looking forward to that. When I was injured I couldn’t see another day at Hampden coming, so I am delighted.”
Doran insists John Robertson’s men are carrying no shortage of belief despite going into tomorrow’s game against the Jambos as underdogs, adding: “It feels different this time. I remember a meeting when John Hughes was the manager and he said if we won a few more games we would get to Hampden. At the time none of us thought we could win the cup. This time a few boys won’t expect to win it either, but to get to the semi-final as a Championship team is a great achievement.
“Hearts’ fans will be going to Hampden expecting them to beat us. We will play with no pressure on us and we can go out and play our own game. We are in good form at the minute.”
