Recovered Bryson out to make up minutes

CRAIG BRYSON has missed five months of football this year, so the St Johnstone midfielder is looking to make up for lost time.

The former Kilmarnock and Aberdeen man played a pivotal role in last season’s double-cup winning success.

But after sustaining a serious knee injury during pre-season, the 34-year-old was ruled out for a lengthy spell – meaning after all the blood, sweat and tears of last term, he missed out on the chance to play in the summer’s European qualifiers.

Bryson admits he was devastated to have to sit out the matches against Galatasaray and LASK.

He said: “It was difficult. We did so much last season and it got us into that position where we were involved in Europe.

“I went up for a header in pre-season against Fleetwood and tore my medial knee ligament. That was in the 44th minute and I knew I was coming off after the 45th. You end up thinking: ‘Is this not meant to be?’

“We made a wee bit of a decision to kind of rush it and try to get back on to the training pitch. Looking back it was far too soon. I re-injured it and that put me out for a bit longer.

“We all felt it was worth the risk – I wanted to take that risk as well to help the team.

“It was a bit of everything. I’d be able to help the team with my experience and you never know if you’re going to get another chance to play in Europe.

“For myself, I was gutted to be sitting in the house watching the lads play against Galatasaray. It was depressing. And then it was so frustrating to see us go out against LASK.

“I’ve missed a good bit of football in the past couple of months so I’m obviously behind everybody in terms of fitness.

“My last competitive game was the Scottish Cup final, which was over five months ago.

“It felt like I got around the pitch not too badly against Celtic and now I’m looking forward to Hearts on Wednesday.”