Kieran Freeman is determined to settle quickly at Raith Rovers after admitting his Dundee United ‘gamble’ failed to pay off.
The right-back departed Tannadice in February after falling out of the first-team picture under Terrors boss Jim Goodwin.
He opted to try something new with a move to St Patrick’s Athletic in the League of Ireland.
But the 24-year-old swiftly realised it was not going to work out and returned to Scottish football with his close-season move to Rovers.
“I’m happy to be back in Scotland,” he told Courier Sport after Saturday’s competitive debut against Stirling Albion. “It was probably a decision that was a no-brainer when it came up.
“I’m just looking to get settled here and to be successful at Raith, as a club and individually.
“I wasn’t playing at United and when a Saturday comes around you want to be out there playing.
“So, I sort of took the move over to Ireland as a gamble and thought, ‘why not try it’.
“But I quickly realised it wasn’t working for me either.
Freeman: ‘I was delighted’
“There were probably a few reasons for that. But I just didn’t enjoy living by myself in a hotel for four months.
“That’s on me, individually, as well; that’s not on anyone else.
“But when this came up I was delighted to come back. So, hopefully now I can look forward to playing here, and I’m enjoying it so far.”
Freeman was one of five new signings to make their debuts for Raith in their Premier Sports Cup curtain-raiser at the weekend.
The former Southampton youngster was joined by Lewis Stevenson and Callum Fordyce in starting the 3-0 victory.
And teenagers Kai Montagu and Lewis Gibson both made their competitive bows late on at Forthbank.
It was a comfortable start to the new campaign for Ian Murray’s men following an impressive season that finished in the ultimate disappointment of failing to clinch promotion.
“The gaffer said on the first day of pre-season training that it’s all about this season now,” added Freeman ahead of Tuesday’s visit of Stranraer.
“What the boys did last season is in the past now. You could dwell on that and that would affect this new season.
‘Room for improvement’
“But, so far, we’ve gradually got better and there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“We’re building relationships with each other on the pitch and it was quite a good performance on Saturday in the first game.
“Being at United, I saw really close last season how good Raith were and and they pushed it right to the very end.
“So, hopefully we can go one better this season.
“The boys are so determined to have a successful season, so it should be exciting.”
