Doran will attempt to make new memories

AFTER hurtling past Celtic in the semi-finals towards 2015’s Scottish Cup triumph, sage counsel in Inverness told Aaron Doran to soak it all up, savour it, and remember. The clear message was this. These remarkable times might never come again. Not long after Caley Thistle’s 2-1 win over Falkirk in the final, the Irish winger had reason to recall those wise words from older teammates when he fell victim to the first of two grievous knee injuries. It wasn’t just that Doran feared his Hampden days were over. It took a big stretch of the imagination to believe he would walk normally again, never mind move at pace with the ball at his feet. Catastrophe was to strike his club, too, following relegation from the Premiership in May 2017. Like Doran, a pale shadow of his former self for long enough, many wondered if a financially ravaged Inverness could ever make it back to the big stage. The 27-year-old’s renaissance, then, mirrors that of his employers. A player of guile and trickery once tipped for great things at Blackburn, he has defied expectations by rediscovering his dynamic best this season, with 11 goals from the wide areas. Fondly recalling the days when a Terry Butcher team honed superbly by John Hughes was lording it in the top four — as well as the Europa League and the Scottish Cup — Doran is hoping to create new memories when John Robertson’s side take on Hearts in tomorrow’s semi-final. He said: ‘Some of the older heads back then told me to make the most of it because it didn’t happen often. I don’t think many expected us to be back here again so quickly. ‘At the start of last season, we were down at the bottom of the Championship, with pretty much a new team. We then kicked on at the end of the campaign, only just missing out on the play-offs. ‘This season we had a lot of draws at the outset, but now we are one of the form teams in the league — and this Scottish Cup run has helped us hugely. ‘Our confidence is high. We can go and play Hearts with no fear. We have a lot of good players and we now know each other inside out, whereas, we were only just gelling when Hearts knocked us out of the Betfred Cup earlier this season (in a 5-0 defeat). I’m sure it will be a lot closer this time.’