RETURNING from injury is set to restore happiness in Kallum Higginbotham’s house – and he wants the chance to do the same at work.

The influential Pars winger admits he’s “chomping at the bit” to return to the side after being sidelined since hobbling off at Boreham Wood last month with a groin injury.

Higginbotham, 29, went under the knife in a bid to cure the problem, which he had been struggling with since pre-season, and has been back in full training for two weeks.

After playing 45 minutes for the reserves last week, he got another 69 minutes under his belt during Tuesday’s second-string outing at Falkirk, and now he’s ready to give manager Allan Johnston another option when picking his first-team pool.

The Englishman, who admitted being forced to watch from the sidelines “drives me mental”, is desperate to get back into the side and give the supporters reasons to cheer after a difficult run at home.

Speaking to Press Sport this weekend, Higginbotham said: “I’m a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.

“I was back in full training after three weeks, which is really fast to be honest, but I can’t sit and watch games of football. It drives me mental so the sooner I’m back, back in contention and, ultimately, in the starting 11, the better.

“I’m pain-free, which is the main thing, because before the op I was very restricted in what I could do. Around my groin was really tight and it was uncomfortable, and I think you probably saw in the game we played down south that I just couldn’t move at all.

“I actually put my hand up and said ‘enough’s enough, I need to come off and get this sorted’. Thankfully, I got the operation and it’s all sorted now.

“When I’m injured and not playing, I tend to take that sort of stuff home with me; the household’s not a happy place when Kallum’s not playing football, so it’s good to be back in training.

“Some people can accept when they’re on the bench and not playing, and I can accept that when I’ve played badly, but when it’s injury or whatever that means I can’t contribute to the team, it really gets me down, so I’m chomping at the bit as you can probably tell.

“I know when I’m fully fit what I can bring to the team.”

He continued: “When I’ve been watching the boys over the last few weeks, I’ve been desperate to get out there, especially when you talk about the weekend. There’s a team there just sitting in and we need that final pass to open them up.That’s nothing against the boys who have been playing – they’ve been brilliant over the course of the season – but when I’m sat there watching, I feel I can contribute massively.

“I can only speak for myself but, if I’m out there on a Saturday and I’ve given the ball away two or three times, I’m that confident I’ll always want the ball. But some players, after two or three times and the fans have given them a bit, that fourth time they might not want the ball, or they’ll get the ball and give the easy pass rather than try that audacious pass to try and open a team up.

“It just seems at the minute that the players look a bit shaky on the ball, and we need players to take the ball under pressure and try and make that defence-splitting pass without worrying about giving the ball away.

“We’ve got to start believing in ourselves.”