Steven Anderson’s Europa League dream was wrecked by a mistimed tackle from Rangers’ summer recruit Ryan Jack in a closed-doors game.
But the Perth skipper is relieved he can measure his absence in weeks rather than months.
After missing out on Euro clashes with Lithuanians FK Trakai, the Saints defender is keen to get game time in today’s McDiarmid friendly with Hartlepool.
A knee injury sidelined him for a month but Anderson bears no grudges against Ibrox midfielder Jack.
He stressed: “It was accidental. Ryan didn’t mean it.
“There was nothing malicious about the tackle and he was quick to apologise. These things happen in football.
“He just slipped and my leg was planted. So I was fortunate I didn’t do more damage to the knee.
“We thought it was going to be worse, maybe the ligaments, before the scan results came through.
“A few things were going through my head. You always fear the worse so it was a huge relief it was mainly down to bone bruising.
“It was good news in one way but still really frustrating to miss out on Europe.
“It was even more depressing missing out the Trakai games after we all worked so hard to get into Europe in the first place. I was gutted.”
The Lithuanians followed up their Saints scalp by shocking fancied Swedish outfit Norrkoping with a midweek penalty shoot-out win to advance to the third qualifying round.
That news simply added to Anderson’s sense of frustration.
He said: “If we had made it through there might have been a chance of being involved against Norrkoping. We are better when we are underdogs so that would have been interesting.
“I didn’t travel but I hear we battered Trakai away from home but just couldn’t get the goals we needed.
“But Europe is always a bonus. The season really starts in earnest with the first league game. So that has to be my target now.
“Going out of Europe makes pre-season longer but we have a strong dressing room and there will be no hangover here.
“I’m hoping to play against Hartlepool. That’s me been out for four weeks but I’m back in training.
“Now I need game time before the first league match at Kilmarnock.”
Perth fans will also get another chance to see 23-year-old French trialist Romain Habran in action.
The PSG winger has impressed in training and Wright will have a decision to make in the next few days as he looks to strengthen his attacking options for the new season.
Today’s match kicks-off at 2pm.
