His mates having been sending plenty reminders they are now on holiday while he’s working over the festive season but Dundee United goalie Benjamin Siegrist insists he’s the lucky one.
Back home in Switzerland, players are now on holiday for Christmas and Siegrist has revealed a string of them haven’t been slow to let him know they’re enjoying putting their feet up.
As he prepares for the festive programme that will see the Tangerines face Falkirk today and Alloa a week later, he insists he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love it. I know what it is like over here from my time with Aston Villa,” he said.
“In Switzerland last weekend it was the last game and now every one of my friends is on holiday. They are all sending me pictures so I block them on social media. I’m only kidding, for me it is just nice to be playing.
“There is not one bit of jealously, I would rather be here and playing football over Christmas than be on holiday with them.
“For me as a foreigner having been involved in the English game and now the Scottish game, I think it is beautiful to be playing at this time of year.
“You spend time with your family on Christmas Day but Boxing Day it is back into training to prepare for the next game and that’s what I like. We are playing today and then the 29th, there is no midweek game so it is perfect.
“Listen, I live for playing football, I live and breathe football, so for me there is nothing better than having Christmas and then a game right away.”
And, for Siegrist, the best Christmas presents he’ll get will be maximum points from Falkirk and Alloa.
If United go about their business the way they did up at Inverness last weekend, he believes they will do exactly that.
Although that Highland trip saw them have to fight back to earn a point, he believes the level of performance bodes well for what lies ahead in the league programme.
“You never know what that point is worth until you finish the season, so that might be a very good one. However, the gaffer spoke about it to us during the week and the way we played compared to the week before at Morton was miles better.
“That’s the way we want to play and we believe it gives us the best chance of winning every game or at least most of the games.
“You are not going to walk through this league but we like to play with high tempo, pass the ball and cause problems for the opposition we can take advantage of. We just need to put it all together and get the three points.
“We should be full of confidence the way we played last week because we know not every opposition can withstand the pressure we put on them.
“It’s all about our performance, the way we go on the pitch and put into practice what we think we want to do.
“The ability we have in the dressing-room, the characters we have, I think we have a really good team whether that’s in terms of spirit or ability.”
After injury forced him off in the recent defeat against Ayr and forced him to miss the draw at Morton, Siegrist admits being recalled to the line-up last weekend was a boost for him.
So far this term, one of his biggest battles has been to claim a starting place ahead of Matej Rakovan but that was an indication he’s now considered the first choice keeper by boss Robbie Neilson.
“I’ve kind of over-extended when I was diving in the game against Ayr and it was a mixture between a knock and a muscle injury. It happens in football, you get injured sometimes and I was happy I was playing again as soon as I was back fit.”
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