BY KYLE GUNN

On-loan St Mirren defender Lee Hodson insists he's ready to put his injury woes behind him to help Saints finish the season positively.

The Northern Irishman could have been forgiven for thinking that his season was over after he ruptured his ankle ligament in the 4-0 hammering away to Celtic in January, returning to Rangers for treatment. 

But Hodson didn’t require any surgery and is now looking to make up for lost time by attempting to help the Buddies to preserve their Premiership status in the remaining four fixtures. 

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Speaking to Gazette Sport, he said: “I was enjoying my football up until I got the injury, but I knew straight away that I’d done something quite serious. I felt my ankle snap and, within seconds, it had ballooned so I realised it wasn’t good. However, I’m back now and hoping for a positive end to the season by helping Saints stay in the Premiership. That would be a great ending for me.

“It’s one of those where I’ve missed so many games already through injury that I’m itching to get back on the field but the team has been doing well so I need to be patient. When that opportunity comes, I’ll be ready to help out. Watching the lads every week, I’ve seen them go through a rough spell and then come back from that to start picking up points.”

The Gazette: The on-loan Rangers defender admits it will be difficult to force his way back into the starting XI (Photo: Allan Picken)The on-loan Rangers defender admits it will be difficult to force his way back into the starting XI (Photo: Allan Picken)

Sitting six points clear of bottom club Dundee and now just two behind Hamilton in safety, the 27-year-old insists that the Buddies aren’t under as much pressure their relegation rivals to preserve their Premiership status. 

Goals from Paul McGinn, Danny Mullen and Simeon Jackson helped the Oran Kearney's men come from behind to defeat Gary Holt’s 10 men 3-1 last weekend. 

And if they can keep up that level of performance, Hodson believes it will be enough to ensure top tier football in Paisley next term. 

He continued: “I reckon that Hamilton and Dundee will be looking at us and thinking ‘I don’t fancy playing them right now'. They know they need to pick up results because we’ve been doing that. Everyone at this club - the players and the coaching staff – believe we can stay in this division. I think we can do that without being involved in the play-offs, although we’re taking it game by game.

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“The three points from Livingston was fantastic but it was only three points and it won’t mean anything until we reach that stage of the season where we know that we’re safe. We can’t be in party mode, thinking we’ve done it. But I’m confident that if we keep playing the way we have been that we can stay up automatically.”