Chris Kane opens up on 16 months of injury pain, baby Halli being a shining light and his desire to remain a Saint

There were genuine concerns that the football career he had worked so hard to create was nudging towards a premature end.

Sat in the doldrums of injury frustration, at times it became difficult for Chris Kane to truly envisage himself running back onto the McDiarmid Park pitch to the applause of supporters.

The 28-year-old, who has been associated with St Johnstone since he was a kid, admits the latest chapter of his journey in the game has been the toughest period of his life.

It had started in January 2022 with a surgery-requiring knee issue which, initially, was meant to keep the hard-working forward sidelined for just six months or so.

Still a difficult timeframe to stomach but six months became eight months, eight months became ten months, ten months became a year.

When the knee problem eventually cleared up, further set-backs surfaced. A year out became fourteen months and, following another calf niggle, fourteen months became sixteen months.

“The toughest year and a half of my life,” Kane explained to the PA. “Sometimes I thought there was not an end. It just did not seem to be getting better.

“Before I knew it I’d been out for a year, the new season had started and I still wasn’t fit. There were times I did think I was not going to get better and that my knee was just going to be too sore. It was upsetting.

“I had wanted to be a footballer since I was as young as I can remember. You never want to stop.

“I don’t know what I’ll do after football and all of these things go through your head.”

On Saturday against Motherwell, Kane, receiving a standing ovation from Saints fans, made his emotional and long-awaited return as a late substitute.

“I heard the fans when I came on so I’d like to thank them for that and all