Callum Booth hasn’t played competitive football in 14 months.
Now, after an agonising false dawn at the turn of the year, the St Johnstone star is finally back in action.
Booth kick-started his return from Achilles and groin surgeries with 25 minutes of Tuesday night’s friendly against Dunfermline.
He replaced Tony Gallagher, the man with whom it looks like he will do battle for the starting left back spot this season.
And after sustaining a nasty groin injury on his previous attempt to return, Booth was delighted to emerge feeling strong and pain-free.
He said: “I played a friendly against Preston in January and Hibs with the under-20s, so I kind of came back for four or five weeks.
“This feels a lot different. It’s pre-season, its 14 months since my last competitive game.
“I’ve done most of pre-season with the boys and it’s great to be back playing football after a long road and another half-an-hour against Dunfermline.
“The time in February (after his aborted comeback) was the worst of it because I’d worked quite hard to get back from my Achilles operation.
“I trained with the first team, was feeling pretty decent, hoping for the run in the team and the manager said I was going to be involved on the Saturday.
“With 10 minutes to go in training on the Friday, my groin goes as I stretched for a ball. It took a while to get to the bottom of it, months to resolve it.
“The Achilles was something I needed done, that had bothered me for years.
“I was really glad to get that operation. The second operation was just so frustrating because it took so long to get to the bottom of it.
“It’s sorted now. But the second one, the groin one, was tough to take.
Shock Covid impact
“I didn’t get the op until about six weeks ago, a couple of days before the last game of the season at home to Livingston.
“So it’s been a quick recovery, I feel absolutely fine.”
Booth initially made a decision to go under the knife for long-standing Achilles problems at the end of the 2021/22 season.
His recovery was derailed by the groin injury sustained in training.
But the cup double-winning left-back was helped through his darkest days by family – and the thought of playing football again.
He explained: “I got both my Achilles done last summer and that was a relief because that had been bothering me for a while.
“I was in a constant battle with my Achilles for a couple of years.
“I managed it alright, but it was when I got Covid, I came back from that and it was like Covid had gone for my Achilles.
“They were the worst they’d ever been. I tried to play a couple of games towards the end of that season (2021/22) but then got an operation.
“At the moment, I don’t feel pain. I just need fitness. It’s been tough to have these ops and a period of time out but it’s part of the job.
“You realise how much you miss football, watching the lads going out to training and things like that.
“I’ve got a good family around me, that’s definitely helped. There’s people going through a lot worse in life so I just got on with it.”
Booth is returning to action under a new manager, with Steven MacLean having taken over from Callum Davidson.
Tuesday’s clash with Dunfermline may have been a friendly, but the new Saints boss was a vocal presence on the touchline – and in the dressing room.
For Booth, that just illustrates how high MacLean’s standards are.
“His demands are there for everyone to see. You probably heard him shouting away in a pre-season friendly in the first half!” he joked.
“He’s definitely going to be a lot more vocal than he was when assistant, he’s the manager now so that’s understandable.
“He’s a great guy, a lot of us have worked with him before so we already know what his standards are.
“I am sure over the next couple of weeks he will get a style of play that he wants us to go with.
“The next couple of weeks we will build up to the League Cup and see what formation the gaffer wants to play and things like that.
“He’s been around the club for years, really, and is a good guy. But he won’t be shy in telling people if they’re not doing their job.”
