Lewis Morgan says he believed he could get back in action before the season's end, but is surprised at how quickly he has managed to make his return.
The winger made his comeback as a substitute in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Falkirk - just two weeks after ligament damage and bone bruising in the win over Ayr United looked to have ended his season.
20 year-old Morgan came on at the Falkirk Stadium in the 81st minute to rapturous applause from the away end and he confessed he's happy to return to the fold for the remaining three matches of the season.
Speaking to stmirren.com after Saturday's draw, Morgan said: "I was a bit down-heartened when I heard that was my season over.
But I was always positive and I knew I could get myself back and I'm just delighted to be back now. I'm not sure how I've managed to do it so quickly but I feel good so hopefully that's all behind me.
"It's a wee bit surreal considering where I was two weeks ago to where I am now, but that's where you want to be. Especially after the derby win during the week, it just makes you want to get off the sidelines and play your part in the run-in.
"You don't want to be the sidelines and out of the picture. You want to be back as soon as you can so I'm just happy to be back."
Saints led Falkirk twice on Saturday before picking up what could be a precious point in the Buddies bid for survival. The winger admits they were pleased with a point coming off the back of the 4-1 win over Morton last Tuesday.
It's one of the hardest places to come - they are second in the league for a reason. If you had looked at the fixtures at the start of the week, four points from six is a good return. The way the game has panned out we've given away two goals from set pieces which isn't ideal. We know that's something we'll look at this week and try to eradicate. On the whole, four points from six is a very good return.
"We've three huge games coming up for the club starting with Dundee United this weekend. We know going in into all three games that we are going to try and win every one. There's a great confidence in the team now. We are resilient, we are very hard to beat and playing really good football so we'll be going into those games with all the confidence in the world and hopefully we can do a job.
Stevie Mallan's second half strike in the derby win over Morton last week saw the midfielder hit his ninth goal of the season, putting him level with Morgan.
"He keeps going on about it," Morgan joked. "He's saying that's him equalled me, but at least I can argue that I have done it in less games! It's a good hit from Stevie, he's got that in his locker. He's a goalscoring midfielder, you could see that last season.
"Without speaking for him, we probably both should've had a few more over the course of the season. I'll definitely be trying to get more than him before the end of the season anyway."
