SEAN Welsh has done the time but still protests innocence to the crime.
The former Partick Thistle and Falkirk midfielder suffered a controversial start to his Inverness Caledonian Thistle career after an alleged head-butt incident in a pre-season friendly.
Going nose-to-nose with Brora Rangers’ Kyle MacLeod, Welsh took a straight red card and the two-game suspension blew a hole in hopes of making an early impact at his new club.
An unused substitute against Cowdenbeath, the 28-year-old then had to sit in the stands for the victory over Raith Rovers and Sunday’s 5-0 hammering by Hearts.
Those frustrations aside, Welsh is excited at the chance to make an impact in the Highlands and is hoping training ground performances will force him back into manager John Robertson’s thoughts.
Welsh, who had earlier netted a double in that friendly debut against Brora, admitted: “It was very frustrating, because I need games. I didn’t get many minutes over pre-season except from that one game.
“That didn’t end the way I wanted it to, which cost me the two cup games. I’m playing catch up now, but I’m raring to get going and I just need to get a bit of a run.
“I have settled in well at Caley Thistle and it’s good to get going. I just need to get a bit of extra training under my belt and get a bit of momentum going.”
Welsh felt harshly done by for the red card incident, which saw ex-Ross County man MacLeod go down clutching his face.
He said: “It was a bittersweet. The game had gone well with my two goals, and then it was obviously just stupid stuff at the end, although there was nothing in it.
“I didn’t feel it was a red card. It was just heat of the moment stuff from both of us and it was a bit harsh of the referee to feel he needed to do that in a friendly, especially reporting it and landing me a two-game ban.
“But it’s done now and we’re past that. I’m raring to get going on Saturday.”
Welsh, if he does feature, will be lining up against the club he played 11 times for in the second half of last season.
He stressed: “I’ve just got to bide my time now. The team obviously did well at the end of last season and they’ve started well in the cup, albeit with a bad result against Hearts.
“But they are a Premiership team with a big squad. We’ve just got to forget about that.
“The lads have done well so I’ve got to train hard and hope I get the call. When I’m called upon, I’ll be ready.
“I was obviously at Falkirk earlier this year but they have turned over a lot of players.
“Most of the squad I was with there last season have left, and they have brought in a lot of new faces that people don’t really know. There’s a lot of younger boys from down south.
“It will be up to them to try and gel that group together.
“But I’m here, now, and glad to be here. I’m looking forward to getting going with Inverness and, hopefully, having a successful season here.”
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