Adam Eckersley says he is happy to be on the mend from injury as he continues to work towards a return to the first team.
The left-back made his comeback from an achilles problem yesterday with a 65 minute showing in a closed door match against Hearts.
It's the first bit of game time the Englishman has played since helping Saints secure survival at Easter Road in the last game of last season.
And his target is to continue working hard in training as he aims to win a place back in the starting eleven.
Speaking to stmirren.com, Eckersley said: "It was my first game of football since against Hibs at the end of last year so it was really nice to get through the time I was supposed to get.
I managed to get 65 minutes under my belt and now I feel in my head that I’m back on the road to recovery now, so it was good for me mentally.
"It is always tough finding your feet again. I don’t feel at my sharpest but that only comes with playing games and training.
"Hopefully I can now get a good week of training under my belt. I feel like I am in a good place now and everything feels good so I’m looking forward to it going forward.
"With the injury I had, we had a plan with the physio not to rush me back in unless it was an emergency.
"We had to take time a little bit and gradually increase the load each day, and that is what we have done.
"Now I have just played 65 minutes and I am feeling good so all the arrows are pointing up and in my head I can’t be happier right now."
The 31 year-old was on the bench for Saturday's win over Falkirk and looks likely to be there again for this weekend's derby.
And while he'd like to be involved, he knows it's important to take his time as he looks to return to match fitness.
I’m looking forward to the game but I am in no rush. I was out for a long time, close to six weeks without playing football.
"It was really good for the team to get off to a winning start. It is always important that you keep the momentum going for the rest of the games.
"We need to approach the game like we did on Saturday and hopefully we can get another good result again."
