Kristijan Trapanovski reckons the boredom of his stint on the sidelines was worse than the pain in his hamstring.
However, the Dundee United ace is determined to ensure the Tangerines’ return to Tannadice on Wednesday night is anything but dull.
Trapanovski, 25, endured his longest ever spell on the treatment table after suffering the setback in ahead of United’s 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock last month.
The “slight nick” to the muscle – as described by boss Jim Goodwin – kept him out of action for four weeks.
However, the fans’ favourite returned from the bench against Hibs 10 days ago, before starting in Saturday’s narrow 1-0 defeat at Aberdeen.
“I have never had a real injury before,” said the Macedonian winger. “This is the first muscle injury to keep me out for so long.
“Before, I had small ankle injuries that kept me out for a week, maximum. So, this was a different challenge for me.
“It was boring! That was the main thing. It was boring training alone with Marcin (Szostak, physio).”
‘Maybe I would have broken my leg!’
In a further blow, the injury saw Trapanovski miss out on North Macedonia’s fixtures against Latvia and Armenia; two victories that rocketed them to the summit of Nations League C Group 4.
He would have been in line to pick up his first senior cap.
However, the former Slavia Prague youngster is remaining circumspect.
“We don’t know what could have happened,” continued Trapanovski.
“Maybe if I played that game for the national team, I would have broken my leg! We don’t know anything. It’s happened. It’s in the past, and you need to look for the positives.
“Maybe next month, if I’m doing well, the national coach will call me, and I’ll get my debut.”
Trapanovski: United ‘deserved a point’ at Aberdeen
Trapanovski certainly made his mark upon returning to action, climbing from the bench against Hibs to tee up Luca Stephenson’s goal to make it 2-2 deep into stoppage time.
Meshack Ubochioma then notched the winner in dramatic fashion.
He was less impactful from the start against Aberdeen on Saturday, albeit with limited service in the 1-0 defeat. Trapanovski, in common with his teammates, still put in a laudable shift.
“I think we deserved a point at the end,” he added. “Defensively, we were perfect in the first half. In the second half, we came up a little short on that.
“We knew the team we were playing on Saturday were the second-best team in the league
“So, we need to keep improving and pushing forward for the next game. I hope on Wednesday we get a different result.”
Gunning for revenge
Indeed, Wednesday’s showdown against Motherwell at Tannadice is a tantalising one.
Victory would see United open a five-point gap in fourth spot and, while it remains early days in the Premiership campaign, that would be a lofty berth for Jim Goodwin’s newly promoted charges.
“When we play at home, we need to push hard for three points,” he continued. “We lost to Motherwell in the League Cup, so we are getting our revenge, I hope.
“Personally, I wanted to make that difference on Saturday, but I didn’t get the chance. So, in the next game, I will look to do some good things and show the best of me.”
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