THERE were times during his injury lay-off when Liam Dick cursed his rotten luck.

But, he only had to take a look at his Wasps team-mates to realise his woes could have been so much worse.

The defender, who had impressed this season before a sprain in the tendon in his hamstring reduced him to the sidelines, made his long awaited comeback in Saturday's win over Elgin in the Scottish Cup.

It ended his two months of hurt in which Dick admits there were times when he believed he was on the verge of returning, only for another setback to keep him out of the side.

He would have been forgiven for spending the months sulking, but the 24-year-old says seeing the painful experiences of some of his Alloa team-mates quickly put his pain into perspective.

Dick told Advertiser Sport: "It is frustrating but then I think you have to remember boys like Blair Malcolm, who was out for the same time, or then obviously Neilly who's out for considerably longer and sometimes you realise you are being a bit selfish when you start moaning.

"There are boys who have been out for longer not just here but at other teams.

"You have just got to take care of yourself so when you come back you give yourself the best platform for when you start running again.

"You see with the way Taggs (Scott Taggart) and I play the gaffer wants us bombing up the pitch and so it's a key part of our game to be fit."

Dick had been missing for the Wasps since pulling out in the warm-up of September's league clash with Dunfermline as his tendon sprain finally got the better of him.

It was understandably a frustrating time for the former Dumbarton player but it was made slightly more bearable by the support shown from his fellow Wasps.

"I thought it would just be a week or two until I was going to get back then I kept getting wee niggles that didn't go away," Dick said.

"It got to the point where I was just asking myself 'when are you going to be fit?'. It just kept becoming the next week and the next week and the week after.

"The boys (were a big help and) would come in and ask me how I was getting on.

"I remember when we got back on the Tuesday and we were going a bit of the running the gaffer said to me not to do it all.

"But I said it was fine and wanted to keep going but obviously then my legs started to go.

"Andy (Graham) and Taggs were shouting and screaming at me to keep it going and even although I had nothing left in the tank it helped me to keep going as much as I could.

"That helps you a lot because even though you can't do what you want to you can find a wee bit more."

Dick played 56 minutes in Elgin and hoped to play a part in last night's league clash with Partick Thistle, which took place after Advertiser Sport went to press.

He said: "For me, it was all about getting minutes under my belt especially looking towards the matches we have coming up.

"It felt brilliant to be back out there and while I have been doing some light stuff like running around the park it is nothing quite like being out on the pitch.

"I'm feeling good and it's now just up to the gaffer to pick me if he thinks it's the right team to get us a result and win us the game."