Jamie McGrath can't wait to turn out for the Republic of Ireland after fearing he was set to miss their upcoming qualifiers.
The 25-year-old was stretchered off with a hip injury in Saints cinch Premiership match against Rangers at the end of last month.
He missed the Buddies' subsequent matches against Motherwell and Dundee, but a scan result showed the damage wasn't as significant as first thought and he was able to return in Saturday's draw away to St Johnstone.
Jamie then travelled to meet his international teammates on Sunday ahead of their matches against Portugal and Luxembourg where he'll be looking to add to the five caps he's picked up for his country so far.
I am really looking forward to it," Jamie told stmirren.com.
"Hopefully I can get some minutes and see what happens, but I'm looking forward to getting in amongst it.
"The fear when I was on the stretcher was that I didn’t know what it was at the time. You always fear the worst and think months rather than weeks.
"When it settled down I was fine and Kevin [Bain, St Mirren physio] kept me in the loop that I wouldn't be out for long.
"I was gutted to miss the games against Motherwell and Dundee, but I’m delighted to be back now in trying to help us get the three points. Unfortunately it didn’t happen against St Johnstone.
"It was good to get back and obviously bit quicker than expected. The medical team have been brilliant with me and I was delighted to get back out there.
"The gaffer asked me how I was feeling after 70 minutes and I felt good. I was still a bit tender but you never want to come off."
Jamie feared he was set for a significant spell on the sidelines after being stretchered off against Rangers.
While Jamie admits there was frustration that the side didn't create enough to win the match against St Johnstone, the 0-0 draw was Saints' fifth match unbeaten away from home in the cinch Premiership and the midfielder feels there are positives to take from performances over the last number of games.
I thought we started well," he said.
"We had a few half chances and when we are on top we need to start taking our chances because it is a different game in this league when you go one up. It forces the opposition to come out of their shape and we can play a bit more freely.
"It is frustrating being the better side, but not creating the chances we would have liked. I have to take some responsibility for that as well because it is my job to create at the end of the day and I don’t think we did create enough over the 90 minutes.
"I think the majority of our performances have been good so far. I think we have been dominating possession about 80% of games we have been playing. You’re always going to give yourself a good chance when you keep the ball and keep it moving but like I said we are disappointed not getting the win although St Johnstone are a quality side."
The midfielder returned to the side in Saturday's draw at St Johnstone.
Jamie also praised the Buddies faithful who have travelled in their numbers over the past few weeks to follow the Saints from Edinburgh to Dingwall and Motherwell to Perth.
Speaking on that fan support, the 25-year-old said: "It is unreal.
When you see all the fans there especially in the warm-up it just gets you going. They are brilliant and stick with us through thick and thin.
"Unfortunately we didn’t get that goal for them but up until the 90th minute they were still chanting and cheering so hats off to them - they are class."
Main image courtesy of FAIreland
