ROMAN GOLOBART, the Spanish teenager on loan at Inverness Caledonian Thistle from Wigan Athletic, hopes to extend his stay in the Highlands to the end of the season, after finally getting to grips with the Scottish game.
The 6ft 4ins Barcelona-born former Espanyol youth defender, who moved north on a six-month deal in August, has been used sparingly by Terry Butcher after some shaky early displays. However, he started last week's match against St Mirren and turned in a powerful performance.
Golobart, 19, whose team are at home to Dundee United today, said: "I feel I am just starting to show my true self now. When I first came here I wasn't sure of what exactly was wanted from me and what kind of game they play here in Scotland.
"The first match, against Aberdeen, came as a bit of a shock. Now I'm more settled and there is confidence in me from my team-mates and the staff. I always have confidence in myself. I was ready for [the game] last Saturday and fort-unately I got the chance.
"I'd talked to some of the Scottish boys at Wigan about what to expect, but while you can guess what it will be like, you have to experience it. It is very different from reserve football in England.
"That has none of the intensity. Here, we can lose our jobs if we don't deliver on the pitch. It has been hard for me to get back in the team, but that's life. If you get something free, you don't value it.
"It wasn't easy to be here far from my friends and family and not playing, so I had to work and work and work and knew one time I'd get the opportunity."
Dundee United's Gavin Gunning, meanwhile, also admitted the Scottish game had something of a culture shock in store for him, after he trained on a beach for the first time this week. With their training base in St Andrews frozen, Peter Houston sent his players for a run on the dunes.
The former Blackburn youth defender said: "I've never trained on a beach before. It was cold and windy but at least we were able to do something. It was pretty old-school stuff but the lads enjoyed it. Obviously here's a limit to what you can do, but the lads all threw themselves into it and we had a good session anyway."
Gunning, 20, said United hope to use the game against Inverness make amends for a disappointing performance in their 1-0 home defeat to Celtic last week. "We didn't play well against Celtic but we're ready to bounce back from it," he said. "Everyone knows we should have given a better account of ourselves.
"But that game is gone now and we are looking forward. Inverness have been playing really well so I was surprised to see them not picking up points. But they got a great result against St Mirren and will be looking to keep that going. I think they were pretty unlucky in the defeats they had earlier in the season, so we know it's going to be a really tough match."
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