Midfielder Jack Maley climbed off the bench to make his Rutherglen debut on Saturday and he's determined to become a regular for Glencairn after a seven-year spell in the Highlands.
The 25-year-old has returned to his native Glasgow due to work commitments but arrives at the Hamish B Allan Stadium with a wealth of experience, having started out at Inverness Caledonian Thistle as a teenager and featuring for a host of clubs in the Highland League.
A few years at both Strathspey and Rothes were followed by a short stint at Forres Mechanics at the end of last year.
But now Maley is eager to get his teeth into the West of Scotland League Premier Division after his full debut in Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Hurlford.
Maley, who had been playing as trialist for Glens gaffer Willie Harvey, said: "I'm glad I've done enough to impress the gaffer and sign until the end of the season.
"It allows us both to have a look at each other and we can take it from there.
"I'm 25 and I should be approaching my peak years so I want to establish myself at this level.
"I've not played at this level before but from what I've seen so far the standard is pretty similar to the Highland League.
"I just want to establish myself and try to get into the starting 11 now.
"That's the big aim for me; get myself into the team and make sure I become one of the first names on the team sheet.
"I feel I've got good experience. I moved up to Inverness a number of years ago and came through the academy up there at pro youth level.
"I dropped into the Highland League when I was about 17 and I played predominantly with Rothes after a spell at Strathspey, then Forres more recently.
"The gaffer wanted to sign me at the start of December but I hadn't played a lot of games since the pandemic hit so I asked to go and sign for Forres to get some games under my belt over the festive period.
"But with Covid still causing problems for games I only got a couple of games played up there.
"But I've moved back to Glasgow full time due to my job and I'm able to get back into it.
"It was difficult because I was at Rothes for four years and I was the longest serving player there, so to come in here and be the new guy again is difficult.
"Trying to make an impression with the management team and also the boys. It's been a difficult period for me personally trying to adjust to everything, but the boys have been brand new with me."
It was a debut to forget, however, for Maley as he came on as a second half substitute in a heavy defeat to Hurlford.
But he's sure his new side will put things right at home to Bonnyton Thistle this weekend.
He admitted: "It wasn't a good day at the office for us.
"I've been involved for a few months now and played a couple of games as a trialist. I've watched a few games from the bench as well and I think the boys would admit that was our worst performance in a long time.
"It's always difficult to come on in games when you are getting beat like that. You always try to make as much of an impact as possible, but it is difficult.
"It wasn't the ideal debut but hopefully we can rectify that on Saturday."
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