Dundee striker Cillian Sheridan on injury torment, finally talking up a win and was it his goal?

Cillian Sheridan broke an unwanted habit in Dundee’s SPFL Trust Trophy adventure to Shropshire.

The Dark Blues faced the unusual prospect of taking on Welsh champions The New Saints on their own patch in Scotland’s Challenge Cup.

Manager Gary Bowyer saw the opportunity to rotate his squad as league concerns took a back seat.

And that gave the chance to see Sheridan out on the pitch in a competitive match for the first time.

It was the Republic of Ireland international’s first appearance for the club in almost a year after rupturing his Achilles tendon at St Mirren on October 30.

‘If people keep saying it’s mine…’

Though he’s not too sure about claiming it, he’s also been awarded his first Dundee goal as he headed in the opener against TNS.

Replays have shown defender Ryan Astles may well have got the final touch.

More importantly, Sheridan was just happy to be doing post-match media duties after a victory following a thoroughly disappointing first season at Dens Park.

“If people keep saying it’s mine – I don’t want to be embarrassed about claiming it,” he admitted to the Courier.

GÔL | GOAL ⚽️

Sheridan yn rhoi Dundee ar y blaen | Sheridan puts Dundee ahead

TNS 0-1 DUNDEE pic.twitter.com/US06eTfuZE

— Sgorio ⚽️ (@sgorio) September 23, 2022

“Ok, it’s my goal!

“It’s been so long to not play and it’s really nice to do an interview where we’ve won a game.

“Every time I was coming out last season, it was always after bad results and you are trying to talk positively about a bad result.

“So it’s nice to be part of a positive victory.”

‘I was so nervous’

More important, though, was seeing the former Celtic man came through the contest unscathed.

And he admits it’s been a far harder road to recovery than he ever envisaged.

Despite returning to training in pre-season, it’s taken until Dundee’s 13th game for him to be ready to step out on the pitch.

“It was around Hallowe’en I got injured so 11 months out,” he added.

328 days after picking up his injury, @CillianSheridan returned to competitive action last night and scored his first Dundee goal #thedee pic.twitter.com/yFaXTsx8Qz

— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) September 24, 2022

“I was just happy to get through the game first and foremost. Obviously it was good to win but, for me personally, it has been difficult to get back training full-time.

“I kept breaking down with little injuries, just annoying little things. Having to come out for four or five days after building myself up and I’d go back another little bit.

“There’s been a lot of that.

“I had the reserve game last week and even for the next four or five days I was so nervous thinking ‘don’t something go today, don’t something else go today’.

“That’s kind of where I am at, at the minute.

“It’s about trying to continue as long as I can where my body builds up to being used to the rigours of training every day and, hopefully, playing.”

‘Way off it’

He added: “It’s the first time I’ve had a bad injury and been out for so long.

“I underestimated how much I lost trying to come back.

“When I came back in pre-season I just felt like I was way off it.

“I went back in with Mac (fitness coach Macauley Kenney) and he did a great job with me, got me up to a level where I was feeling confident and ready.

“That’s when you get the mental test where you are getting these little setbacks.

“I’ll take it slowly, I’ll not get ahead of myself and think that’s everything done now.”