Five years of injury worries finally out of mind for Anderson

Saturday 1 September 2012

It has been quite a while since Russell Anderson enjoyed such peace of mind.

Russell Anderson is likely to remain at right-back for the visit of St Mirren. Picture: SNS

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Frank Gilfeather

He wonders, even, if he should even talk about it. But for the first time since he left Pittodrie in 2007, the former Scotland defender is training and playing free from the shadow of one of the many injuries that limited his gametime during his peak years.

Anderson ruptured ankle ligaments in his first start for Sunderland after a £1m transfer from Aberdeen. He was loaned to Plymouth, then Burnley, where he injured cruciate ligaments in his fourth match. After signing for Derby County, Anderson's injuries were less serious, but more frequent, calf and hamstring problems keeping him out of the team for weeks at a time before he returned to Aberdeen last January. "I don't know if I should be saying this," he said, "but for the first time in a long time the injury problems I've had are actually out of my mind. My time with Derby County was just riddled with thinking I was getting over something then something else would happen to knock me back."The more times that sort of setback happens to you then you can't help but have it on your mind but, touch wood, since I have been back for pre-season it's the first time I have just been thinking about playing my football rather than anything else."Aberdeen's lack of goals – they have scored just two in four league games – has raised some familiar concerns at Pittodrie, where goals where hard to come by at the start of last season, also. Anderson, however, believes the strikers at the club will find their range, and soon."I don't have any doubt about the quality of the goalscorers that we have at Aberdeen and it's just a case of things falling into place, " he insisted. "If that happens then we will start to get the wins that some of our play has probably deserved."For Danny Lennon, the St Mirren manager, the challenge is to maintain the levels he saw for most of their 1-1 draw at Motherwell and in a 5-1 victory over Ayr United in the Scottish Communities League Cup.Lennon said: "For 89 minutes of the Motherwell game and throughout the cup tie against Ayr, some of the football we played was fantastic and we scored some wonderful goals,. We need to reach the levels of consistency that we strive for. Last season our downfall was when we put a result together we very seldom backed it up."Late last night, Lennon also confirmed that he has signed Paul Dummett, a Newcastle United left-back and Wales Under-21 internationalist, on loan until January and will include him this afternoon. Lennon said: "I first came across him a year ago but I got a call yesterday afternoon which reignited interest. It works well for both parties."Lennon is also assessing Franco Miranda, the 27-year-old Argentine and former St Mirren player, who is a free agent after leaving Patronato.

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Five years of injury worries finally out of mind for Anderson

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