IT would be fair to say that James Bolton’s St Mirren career to date hasn’t quite gone exactly to plan.
The former Plymouth man made the move to Paisley in the summer, but he struggled for game time during an impressive start to the season for the Saints.
He was finally pitched in for his first league start against Kilmarnock in midweek, but he could do nothing to halt the slump in form that Stephen Robinson’s men now find themselves battling through as Killie left Paisley with all three points.
The centre-back’s previous injury woes though have helped him keep recent struggles, both personal and collective, in perspective. The 29-year-old suffered two serious ankle injuries that blighted his two years at Home Park, so just being able to train every day has been something of a blessing for him.
It has also made him all the more determined to show the St Mirren fans and his manager just what he can bring to the team, and having had a taste of the action from the start at long last, he hopes he can play a major role in turning his team’s fortunes around once more.
“Obviously on a personal note it’s nice to get some minutes,” Bolton said.
“It’s been credit to the team for performing so well, but it was nice to get a chance and hopefully prove a little bit what I can bring.
“It’s obviously frustrating that I’ve not had as much game time as I would like, but I think that’s credit to the boys that have played.
“You look at Marcus (Fraser) and Goga (Alex Gogic), they have probably been our most consistent players, so it’s been hard to get myself into it.
“Then, when I do come on, you’re normally defending a lead, so it’s frantic and you can’t really show what you are about.
“I pride myself on being a good professional, and I’ve been nothing but good to the group, and I try to do the right things whether I am playing or not playing. That comes from the team as well, everyone is like that, it’s a good environment to be around.
“I think from where I was the last two years at Plymouth and being injured, I’ve actually found a little bit of happiness in just being able to train every day. Although I’m not playing, I’m still available, and when I was injured, I never wanted to take that for granted.
“Most of my career, I got away without having too many injuries, and I definitely took that for granted. So, when I did have those tough times with injuries, it gives you the mentality now that ‘right, you are lucky to be able to do this every day’.
“I have found happiness in that, and I think you have to. When things are a little bit out of your control, you have to find happiness in things.
“I feel like I’ve matured as a personality, and I do feel like I want to be that voice in the changing room as well.
“But also, I need to prove that I can do that on the pitch and that is where you earn your respect first, so it’s been hard at the moment with not getting enough game time to earn that respect off the boys.”
One way to earn that respect would be to contribute to a tightening up of the Saints defence, which once again shipped a cheap goal from their point of view in the defeat to Kilmarnock.
But Bolton doesn’t feel like they are too far away from getting their season back on track.
“It’s just fine margins, and I feel like we haven’t had the rub of the green lately, which is frustrating,” he said.
“But it will turn for us. We’ve got a good group of lads and a backroom staff who are so diligent it’s unbelievable.
“So, it isn’t through a lack of trying. I always find that people who work hard always get that rub of the green eventually, and it will turn for us. When it does, we’ll be there for it."
St Mirren face two tough-looking fixtures on paper before the winter break, with a visit to Aberdeen on Saturday followed by a home game against Celtic, but Bolton sees no reason why this can’t be the moment that things start to turn in their favour.
“They are going to be tough, but I feel like something is going to drop for us, and it could do in those two games,” he said.
“We’re not expected to go and win, but we know that we are more than capable. We played Aberdeen here and we were done by a last-minute penalty, which was a bit of a questionable one.
“We’re very capable of winning games, and with the Celtic one we are at home, and if we make it a bit nasty for them and play to our strengths, then we can give them a game.”
