Keith Watson expected to make his home debut for St Johnstone in the late summer sun.
Stepping out at McDiarmid Park for a first team game in the chill of mid-winter certainly wasn’t in the plan.
But, now that he has finally played a match in Perth in the Saints blue and white, Watson still as a lot to look forward to.
Short term, there’s the midweek trip to Celtic Park.
And long term, he’s hoping that the defeat of Stenhousemuir on Saturday will be the first Scottish Cup game of many this season.
“Hopefully this win will start us off on a good run this year,” he said.
“I’d forgotten what it was like to play 90 minutes!
“It was good to get the game and to win the match, obviously.
“I thought I did alright. I was maybe a wee bit rusty at times in my first game back.
“It’s been a frustrating time for me but things are looking up now. I need to build on this and keep working hard.
“I played a few 20s games before the break but it was great to be out there for the first team and to make my home debut.”
‘Frustrating’ is a word used by footballers to describe any and every injury but it is certainly applicable in Watson’s case.
“I had a good pre-season under my belt and had played in the friendlies,” he recalled.
“When I got the injury in Elgin I was told it was 10 days and I was thinking ‘that’s not too bad’.
“But it kept going on and on and it was really frustrating.
“It was a thigh injury. After the 10 days I came back and it felt like a rip on my thigh when I kicked the ball.
“The scan showed up a big tear, and it affected the tendon in my thigh as well, which made it even longer out.
“I then got an injection so it was a long, hard few months.
“It was getting me down.
“Maybe I rushed back too soon at the start.
“But when you eventually do come back it’s a great feeling.
“I’ve taken care in the gym and built up the thigh muscles to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m just looking forward to getting more games under my belt now and kicking on for St Johnstone.”
Watson was in the Dundee United team that lost the 2014 cup final to Saints.
As you would expect, it hasn’t escaped the attention of his new team-mates.
“I just get a couple of wee comments here and there!” Watson said. “It’s a bit of banter.
“I just tell them that I’ve won it as well. It’s like, ‘I’ve had my time so I let you guys have one.’
“Cup runs are always good. It’s a great feeling to win it.”
Saints were clinical on Saturday.
The two first half goals – a Steven MacLean header and a Blair Alston deflected shot – had them on cruise control for the second 45.
They could have scored more – MacLean could have had a hat-trick – but it never looked like mattering.
Manager Tommy Wright – whose players hadn’t kicked a ball competitively for three weeks – had every right to be a contented man after seeing his team show no signs of ring-rust.
“We made a great start and the job was probably done when the second goal went in,” he said. “If you’re being critical of us we probably should have made more of the second half possession.
“But it was a comfortable win and a professional job. We never gave them a foothold in the game.
“We’re in the next round and that’s the most important thing.
“I told you there would be a shock today and a Premiership club (Dundee) has gone out to a Championship one (St Mirren).
“When I saw Paul (Hartley) that was a concern for him, as well as ourselves.
“You don’t know how you’re going to come back after the break. But the way we started showed that we weren’t going to struggle in the game.”
Wright, who should have Murray Davidson available for the Celtic game, was pleased with Watson’s performance.
“Richard (Foster) is suspended so we had to make sure Keith had 90 minutes,” he said. “I thought he was excellent.”
