St Johnstone goal hero Murray Davidson has admitted he feared the worst when he damaged his knee.
Davidson fell to the floor inside the St Mirren penalty area on Boxing Day and ended up on the sidelines for almost a month.
He made a dramatic match-winning return on Wednesday night as Saints beat Livingston 1-0 at McDiarmid Park to move into fifth spot in the Premiership.
It was the Perth club’s fourth successive victory and all looks rosy for both club and player.
However, Davidson admits he was concerned about how bad his knee was after the Buddies clash and was unsure what the future held for him.
“I was worried about the injury when I did it,” said Davidson.
“I got home after the St Mirren game and didn’t know how bad it was but in the back of my mind I was pretty concerned.
“Looking back, we had played so many games in a short space of time and I think that’s what triggered it.
“So when I got the scan and it was good news it was a relief.
“Our physio said it could still be two or three months – or it could be two weeks.
“It settled down pretty quickly, though, and the winter break came at a good time for me so touch wood it won’t happen again.”
The recovery may have gone well but he was still surprised to hear his name when boss Tommy Wright read out the team to face Livi.
He made the most of his opportunity, though, shooting home from close range on 77 minutes.
Davidson added: “I didn’t really expect to come straight back in.
“The manager spoke to me and asked how I felt so I told him my knee was feeling great.
“I trained Monday and Tuesday so I didn’t know for sure until he named the team.
“After being out for a month and not training you need the adrenaline in the final 20 minutes but thankfully I was able to get the goal.
“I know people think I get injured a lot but that’s down to the way I play – I’m always going to pick up injuries because of it.
“I think there is only one season where I haven’t played more than 30 games.
“I’m not getting any younger either.
“But I have only had one serious injury where I missed seven months, apart from that they have all been one or two months.
“Indeed, I have played over 300 games for the club now.
“When you get injured you just have to deal with it.
“I have spent the last month in the treatment room with Brian Easton, who has been out for over a year and is coming back.
“Then Drey Wright is in there too, he’s come in and did really well for us but then he’s got a bad one and is out long-term.
“So there is always someone worse off than you and when you do get injured you just have to get the head down and put the work in.”
St Johnstone head to Tynecastle tomorrow to face Hearts, whom they leapfrogged in the league table in midweek after the Edinburgh side lost to Dundee.
They are jam-packed with confidence, with Davidson saying: “Obviously we know what we’re capable of but you won’t hear us shouting about it.
“The last three or four months have been good but we have a hard run of fixtures coming up (a trip to Celtic follows the Hearts match).
“Tynecastle is somewhere we have done well at in the past but Hearts will be desperate to bounce back from a bad result.
“It’s difficult there. They beat us 2-1 at the start of the season so we know we’ll have to perform to get something from it.”
