Dundee United’s in-form midfielder John Rankin has revealed how starring for the Tangerines has put the smile back on his face.
Rankin was at his best on Tuesday night as United demolished Kilmarnock 4-0, dictating play from the centre of the park and chipping in with his team’s third goal.
That earned him plenty of praise from manager Peter Houston, and the player revealed how pleased he is to be at Tannadice after a troubled time at former club Hibs, during which he was frozen out by Colin Calderwood.
Indeed, he stated that he has to go back to his spell at Ross County, whom he left in the summer of 2006 for Inverness Caley Thistle before ending up at Easter Road, to find the last time he enjoyed his football so much.
”This has been a great move for me because I am enjoying my football and the manager believes in me,” said Rankin.
”I am just looking forward to each game and playing with a smile on my face.
”I probably have to go back to my Ross County days to recall when I last enjoyed my football as much as I am doing now.”
He added: ”I have a strong mindset so when I was out of the picture at Hibs it just made me stronger.
”You need that to get through certain parts of your career.
”It can be demoralising but it takes a strong person to come out the other side, which I have done.”‘Good banter’Rankin said: ”So I am happy that I managed to keep my head down and come through the other side rather than losing the plot. When I sat down with the manager (Houston) he didn’t have to sell the club that much to me.
”He told me his ideas of where he wanted the club and when I saw the training ground and everything else I thought immediately I wanted to be part of something like this.”
Rankin revealed that he views the togetherness of the United players as a huge plus point for the club, something that reminded him of the County set-up.
”It was a close-knit bunch of boys up there,” he said.
”We all got on well, both on and off the park.
”It’s the same sort of situation here. A lot of the lads live locally in the way we did at County.
”When I went to Hibs there were players dotted all over the place. At United, we do a lot of things together. It all makes for good banter. It gives you a wee kick on a Monday morning to come in and hear all the stories.”
Next up for United is a trip to Edinburgh on Saturday to face Hearts. If they can win that one and their record against the Jam Tarts is good then they can give their top-six hopes a massive boost.Drop-ball dramaRankin said: ”We go to Tynecastle on a high and hopefully we can build on the win over Kilmarnock.
”We were so disappointed with the way we had played against St Mirren on Saturday and I think you could see from the very start of the Killie match that we were so determined to get the three points.”
Rankin was booed by the small section of away fans on Tuesday for, what they believed, was an attempt at goal following a drop-ball which came about because Killie had relinquished possession to allow treatment for United striker Johnny Russell.
His ”shot” went just inches over the bar but Rankin claimed he was innocent.
”I didn’t meant to shoot from the drop-ball,” he said.
”The wind was blowing so I thought I would put a bit behind it to get it through to the goalie rather than just trickle the ball back.
”But when I connected so well with it I turned round to referee Craig Thomson and said ‘oh no.’
”Their players obviously had a bit of a go but I told them I wasn’t shooting.
”I don’t know what the scenario would have been if it had gone in!”
Meanwhile, United will be defender Paul Dixon for the Hearts game. He has crossed through the disciplinary points threshold after picking up six yellow cards this season so will serve a suspension.