Eamonn Brophy insists he is ready to repay Ross County’s faith in him after getting off the mark for the new campaign against Airdrieonians.
Striker Brophy netted the winner in extra-time at Excelsior Stadium, in a dramatic 4-3 victory which took the Staggies into the Viaplay Cup quarter-finals.
It was only Brophy’s third substitute appearance of the season, having been sidelined with a thigh strain when he signed permanently from St Mirren in the summer.
Having spent the latter half of last season on loan at Victoria Park, Brophy is eager to get back among the goals.
Brophy said: “It was good to be back on the scoresheet again but also good to be back out there playing after a long time out with injury.
“The most important thing is we got through to the next round but for me personally it was a good feeling just to be back on the pitch.
“I feel good. I don’t feel the injury at all. It’s just a matter of getting game time now and getting back up to match sharpness.
“Hopefully I will get better and better in the coming weeks. I’m looking forward to hopefully playing a big part this season.”
Desire to make loan switch permanent
Brophy enjoyed a successful loan stint from the Buddies last season, in which he netted three goals in eight matches.
His impact was cruelly thwarted when he suffered the thigh strain in a win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in April.
Brophy was keen to make his switch permanent, insisting he feels he has unfinished business with the Dingwall club.
He added: “When I came here on loan, I was only here for two and a half months but I really enjoyed it.
“I felt I was playing well and it was unfortunate I got injured when I did.
“As soon as I heard they were interested in bringing me back permanently, I wanted to get it done as soon as possible.
“They made it clear quite early on that they wanted to sign me, which I was happy about. It was then just about trying to get a deal done with St Mirren.
“Credit to the manager and club for showing faith in me and hopefully I can repay them this season.
“My aim this season isn’t about numbers, it’s just to stay on the pitch. If I do that, I know I can be a massive help to the club and hopefully score goals.”
Striker pleased with Staggies’ start to campaign
Brophy has been encouraged by the Staggies’ start to the campaign, with Malky Mackay’s men now relishing the visit of Rangers on the return to Premiership duty on Saturday.
The 27-year-old added: “I’m excited for the season ahead. I think it could be a good one if we do the basics right.
“Most of last season, the team were down at the bottom of the league so it wasn’t a great feeling.
“Hopefully this season we can use that, push on and look up the table instead of looking over our shoulder and worrying. It’s up to us to do it on the pitch and pick up as many points as we can.
🎥 | The goals from today's Viaplay Cup match against Ross County. Full DiamondsTV highlights will follow tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/GznfXUe0e1
— Airdrieonians FC (@AirdrieoniansFC) August 19, 2023
“It’s been a good start to the season – we are in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. We had a tough first league game at Celtic Park but at times we did well in that.
“We then had a great result and performance against St Johnstone. There is another tough game against Rangers coming up but we will be full of confidence going into that.”
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