Yan Dhanda insists his return to action could not have come soon enough as he vies for a Ross County starting berth against Hearts today.
Attacking midfielder Dhanda missed three matches after suffering a hairline fracture in his foot, but he returned to play the second half of last Friday’s 1-0 loss to Aberdeen.
After taking himself by surprise at how sharp he felt following his absence, Dhanda is eager to be unleashed at Tynecastle.
Dhanda said: “I honestly can’t wait. I was gutted when I got injured, I had been playing through it for a few weeks because I didn’t want to miss games.
“It came to a point where I had to take a couple of games’ rest.
“It was horrible just watching at home, so I can’t wait to get back on the pitch.
“My aim was the St Johnstone game – I only wanted to miss two games.
“It was a bit unrealistic. I thought I maybe would even have missed Aberdeen, but I was desperate to get back on the pitch.
“I was buzzing when I came on at half-time. It gave me the chance to dust off some cobwebs and get ready for Hearts.
“I actually didn’t think I would feel as good as I did against Aberdeen.
“For five weeks I hadn’t done literally anything. I had been in a boot, and not trained, or done any sort of work.
“When I came on against Aberdeen I thought I would feel a bit more rusty, but I actually felt good and I told the manager that as well.
“I’m ready for Hearts now.”
Midfielder making increasing impact at Dingwall
Dhanda had been on fine form prior to his injury, after forcing his way into the Staggies’ line-up just before the turn of the year.
Having netted three goals in his last seven games, Dhanda is determined to play his part in helping the Staggies climb off the foot of the Premiership.
Dhanda, who joined from Swansea City last summer, added: “The injury came at a bad time for me. I was showing what I could do, scoring and assisting.
“I feel good now, I have been training well this week and I’m confident for Saturday, so I’m pretty sure I will pick up where I left off.
“We are getting people back now slowly. We have had some bad injuries, such as Ross, Eamonn and Gwion.
“That is unfortunate because of how good they are as players, but that’s football. Every team gets them.
“We can’t really dwell on that too much. We have people coming back who are going to play a big part in the rest of the season.
“Because we have such a good group, we are confident we will be fine. As long as we stick together and keep working on stuff we need to improve on, I’m sure we will be fine.”
Dhanda targets significant result at Tynecastle
Dhanda insists a result in Edinburgh would provide Malky Mackay’s men with the perfect springboard ahead of their defining five post-split fixtures.
The 24-year-old said: “Regardless of what happens on Saturday, it’s definitely going to go down to the last three or four games of the season.
“If we can beat Hearts it would give us a boost, and we want to go into the split as confident as possible.
“The best way to do that is beating Hearts, which would help us get out of the relegation zone.
“Obviously you don’t want to be down there. But there are 12 teams and someone is going to be in it.
“Unfortunately right now, it’s us. We have got ourselves into it, and it’s down to us now to get ourselves out of it.
“The manager and Don Cowie will give us the gameplan, and it’s down to us to execute it.
“We have played against everyone now, and we have beaten the teams we are going to play in the bottom six.
“As a team we have shown what we can do against them, so there is no excuse when it comes to playing against them.
“We have done it before, and it’s down to us to do it again. I’m confident in the lads.”
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