Craig Sibbald wants to bounce back from his own nightmare season by helping Livingston to finish best of the rest.
The winger, who is out-of-contract in the summer, certainly hasn’t had much luck this campaign thanks to two bouts of Covid, stitches in a leg injury and then being sidelined with an ankle issue.
Sibbald had been a regular for Livingston but now he wants to make up for lost time as they prepare to open up their Scottish Premiership bottom six campaign away to Aberdeen this weekend.
The 26-year-old said: “I’m just trying to get my fitness back and hopefully I can get in the team and contribute between now and the end of the season. That is my aim because it has been a really frustrating season for me.
“I have been working hard in training. I am fit now and I am feeling good again.
“Hopefully, I can help the team over the next five games. “It has been really frustrating that I haven’t been able to help the team more than I have over the course of the season with Covid and the injuries.
“I just want to finish the season as well as I can and help Livingston finish as high as we can.
“We are in the bottom six and it was disappointing with the way we missed out on the top half. We just need to pick ourselves up and go again and we want to try to finish seventh and the best of the rest.”
The former Falkirk star knows that just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong this term.
Sibbald explained: “I have contracted Covid twice, I also had nine stitches in my leg in the game against Dundee and then recently I injured my ankle. Covid just floored me on both occasions.
“I also have asthma and it was a lot harder for me to breathe when I was running. It took me a while to get over it.
“I remember going on the park for 10 minutes against St Johnstone and I could hardly breathe, my chest was in agony.
“Then when I got myself fit and my sharpness back I contracted it again in March. It wasn’t as bad the second time but it kept me out of the team, which was frustrating.
“It has been a stop-start all season and I haven’t had much luck. I usually play quite regularly and this season has been a nightmare.
“It has been tough mentally but I will be stronger having come through it.”
The midfielder also knows he has a big couple of months ahead of him as his contract is set to expire.
Sibbald confirmed: “I am out of contract in the summer. It hasn’t been ideal with the season I have had but hopefully, as I said, I can finish strongly.
“I spoke to the manager a couple of months ago and we will see what happens. I just need to concentrate on these last five games and then we will see what options I have.”
