Jay Henderson insists he is targeting regular first-team football after his successful loan spell as he mulls over a new contract with St Mirren.
The 21-year-old winger is finally resting up after a whirlwind few months which finished with an appearance for Inverness Caledonian Thistle in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final against Celtic.
Caley lost 3-1 but won plaudits for pushing the Hoops all the way in their bid to clinch The Treble.
Now the future is Henderson’s focus and the Buddies’ talent is thinking carefully about his next steps having enjoyed being pitched into the heat of battle in the cinch Championship week in, week out.
“I’ll speak with the people I need to,” he said in an interview with the North-based Press & Journal. “I’m a St Mirren player at the moment and that’s still there.
“It feels like I’ve been there since maybe nine years old so the club means a lot to me. They’ve been brilliant with me. It’s not like I’ve come here and lost all contact.
“They moulded me into the player I was before I came to Inverness. I’m thankful for them letting me come here and getting experiences like this.
“When I came the plan certainly wasn’t to play in a Scottish Cup final. Summer will be interesting, I don’t know what will happen – I might stay and with the quick turnaround we’ll soon see.
“It’ll be good, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s happening. I want to play again next season. Anyone at my age – it’s vital to go and play and develop. If you’re sitting on the bench and just watching, there’s only so many learning points to take.
“You’ll never learn more than I did from the exposure of Hampden on Saturday. It’s massive for me in terms of my career. It’ll live with me for the rest of my life.”
Henderson says going up against one of the Old Firm giants has been inspiring – and convinced him he can operate at the top level.
He added: “It proves a point to myself and anyone else watching that I can play at this level. That’s the most important thing for me – I want to play at the highest level possible.
“I’m striving to be at the level those boys are at, winning the trophies they’re winning and being so successful. Every player wants that, and if you don’t, you’re in the wrong game.
“The final showed the levels you need to aspire to get to. In January, if you said I’d be playing in a Scottish Cup final as your last game at Inverness, I’d probably have laughed.”
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