I can go all the way to Euro glory

Kevin’s feeling confident

Paisley squash ace Kevin Moran feels he is going into this month’s European Team Championships in the best form of his career.

The 26- year- old, who recently returned to squash’s professional tour having taken a break following the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is determined to bring back a medal for Scotland.

He joins teammates Alan Clyne, Greg Lobban, Rory Stewart, Douglas Kempsell and Stuart George in Helsinki for the Euro championships beginning on April 26.

Moran was part of the Scotland side which secured a bronze medal at the 2016 European Championships.

He said: “I am playing well just now, probably as well as I have ever played and will go to the Europeans in good spirits.

“I have been taking on more responsibility for my game and working hard on the mental side.

“Coaching some of the juniors in our performance programme has also given me a new perspective on things and forces you to really think about strategy and tactics.

“The new Scotland coaching set- up of Paul Bell and Martin Heath has also brought a new flavour to the group and has played a part in my improvement.

“There’s still plenty to work on but things are going in the right direction.”

Moran has taken part in the European Team Championships for the past five years having made his debut at the same time as Lobban and Kempsell.

The former St Mirren youth team footballer believes this continuity has helped Scotland finish no lower than fourth on each occasion.

He added: “It certainly helps as does the unique set- up we have all by training together at the Oriam Performance Centre in Edinburgh. Most other countries don’t have that luxury.

“We all get on away from the court and that probably manifests itself in the results we’ve had in recent years. We managed to finally get a bronze medal last year and hopefully we can replicate that again.”

Moran has had to start near the bottom of the world rankings following his sabbatical from the game, and currently languishes in 379th place.

However he is confident a move up the rankings will follow soon.

He said: “I was on the verge of breaking into top 100 when I left the tour and it takes about a year to get your ranking back up.

“It’s a hard slog but with the way I’m playing I can’t see why I won’t be able to return to where I was before and then build on that.

“It ’ s certainly an exciting time with the Commonwealth Games now less than a year away, and I want to be on that plane to the Gold Coast.”