Dundee United frontman Nicky Clark insists there was never any doubt the Premiership was the place for him.
Clark agreed a new two-year deal with the Tangerines last week but not before being linked with a possible switch to city rivals Dundee.
He said he knew nothing of the interest being shown by the Championship team until we revealed the Dark Blues were keen on him.
Clark is loving life in the top flight so much that he was never going to put that at risk by signing a pre-contract elsewhere, as Paul McMullan has done with the Dark Blues.
Wanted to stay
He said: “The Dundee thing all happened kind of quickly.
“I didn’t know anything about it until I saw it in the Press.
“Then the club (United) got it done very quickly and I really wanted to stay here anyway.
“I was delighted to get it done as I was keen to stay.
“Now I can just focus on moving forward with the club.
“It took longer than I wanted to get back into the Premiership so I didn’t want to give it up and move away.
“I have loved every minute here and playing in the top league is great.”
The 29-year-old remained United’s top scorer with 11 goals as they passed the 24-fixture mark with a goalless draw at Hamilton on Saturday.
Against Accies, he filled a midfield role as Lawrence Shankland and Louis Appere played in front of him.
It wasn’t the greatest of days for Micky Mellon’s men despite looking the better team for large parts of the match.
United produced some good build-up play and looked the silkier side but there was no end product.
That left Clark and his colleagues a little deflated.
Dominated game
He added: “We’re a wee bit frustrated that we didn’t get all three points because I think we dominated the majority of the game.
“We didn’t take the chances we had to win it but it’s a point away from home.
“Maybe some of them (the draws) are frustrating but going to Pittodrie and getting a 0-0 draw was a good point, in our eyes, for a new club coming into the league.
“We are just building up and we are pleased with where we’re sitting just now.”
Sitting in sixth spot could leave you looking both up and down the table but Clark insists they have ambitions to as high as possible.
Aiming high
He said: “We definitely want to finish as high as possible.
“We know it’s going to be tough and a lot of teams are aiming for that as well but we just have to concentrate on ourselves and keep performing.
“I think we did perform well against Hamilton, dominating the majority of the game.
“We are looking up the way but we are not silly.
“We check the results after our games to see how the other results have gone and we know it’s very tight but we are definitely not looking back the way.
“If we keep looking forward, concentrate on ourselves and keep performing as we did at Hamilton, I am sure we will be fine.”
As for the midfield role, he said: “It is a wee bit different but I am enjoying it.
“I am involved in the game a lot more.
“You have to do the defensive side as well, which I don’t mind.
“The gaffer gives me licence to get forward and get into the box so I’m enjoying it.
“That’s the last three or four games I have played in there and it is all going well.”