Dundee United winger Gary Mackay-Steven says feeling wanted made him pledge his future to the club.
The former Liverpool youth player has put pen to paper on a fresh contract at Tannadice that extends his stay in Tayside by at least 18 months. He is happy with life after joining the Tangerines from Airdrie United last summer and has quickly become a fans’ favourite.
Mackay-Steven feels right at home and sharing a house with a group of fellow players has helped him settle into life in the SPL.
”It was great to sign the new contract,” said Mackay-Steven. ”I was just focusing on my football but the club came to me and asked if I wanted to extend my deal. It’s great to know you are wanted like that.
”To be honest, this season I was just hoping to bed in and get myself into the team. So it has gone much better than expected and I have settled in really quickly. To get an extra 18 months on my contract so fast is brilliant and I am grateful to the club.
”I feel really at home here and love it here. I stay in a house with Danny Swanson, Keith Watson and Barry Douglas it’s a good laugh.
”When I was at Liverpool I shared with one of my team-mates, so it’s nothing new. We are all roughly the same age so get on really well.
”I got a good vibe about Dundee United from the minute I started training here last season and from then on all I wanted to do was win a contract.
”The lads were great with me from the start and that definitely has helped me settle in.”
Next up for Mackay-Steven and his mates is a meeting with Motherwell at Tannadice on Saturday. A decent display in defeat at Celtic Park last weekend has given him reason to be optimistic going into this one.
”We played pretty well against Celtic last weekend so we want to keep that going,” he said. ”Motherwell are a good side and they had a really impressive start to the season.
”So we know they are dangerous opponents but it’s a home game for us and we’ll go into it with confidence.”