No player ever likes being left out of the team.
Scott McMann felt the sting of rejection when he was dropped following Dundee United’s 9-0 thrashing by Celtic at Tannadice at the end of August.
However, the 26-year-old seized the opportunity to “reset” and, having worked his socks off in training, he was finally rewarded with a recall to the starting line-up against Aberdeen.
His comeback coincided with United’s first Premiership win of the season as they demolished the Dons 4-0.
McMann and the rest of his team-mates then made it back-to-back victories, beating Hibs 1-0 on Tuesday night – and the defender is hoping for more of the same in Dingwall, in a crunch clash with Ross County.
McMann said: “As a player, you never want to miss a game but you can use it as a positive, maybe to reset and focus on your training to get the basics right again.
“I feel like I have done that, using the time off to really train properly and be ready when I was given an opportunity.
“I have had to bide my time being out of the team for a while.
“It was frustrating watching but I couldn’t really complain, to be honest.
“I have just been working hard in training and I got my chance on Saturday.
“Thankfully I took it in the last couple of games and hopefully I can keep helping the team get more results.”
McMann admitted it is vitally important that United keep the momentum going.
The former Hamilton player said: “It is massive. You could feel the momentum on Tuesday night after beating Aberdeen on Saturday.
“We obviously went 1-0 up but even in the second half when we had to dig in, doing the nasty side of the game just to get the result, we did it really well.
“They were on top for a while but we dug in and got the three points.”
McMann added: “A lot of times at Hamilton, especially in the Premiership as a small club, you did a lot of defending.
“It was backs against the wall at times so it is something I have been used to in my career.
“But I thought all the boys dealt with it really well on Tuesday.
“We also played some good football, especially in the first half.”
Despite the two wins, United are still sitting 11th in the table on the same points as rock bottom County.
However, McMann is determined to pick up another three points – just like United did in Dingwall on the final day of last season to clinch fourth spot.
McMann said: “The game is massive. We are on the same points as them and they won last week as well.
“Both teams will be going into it looking to win but we feel we have enough to go up there and take three points.
“The last time we were there, it was a brilliant day, clinching fourth place.
“So hopefully we can take those good memories into Saturday and get a result again.”
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