BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
CALLUM MORRIS is adamant he does not regret joining Aberdeen despite failing to make a single appearance during an ill-fated stint with the Dons.
The 26-year-old has penned a contract until the end of the season with Dunfermline after cancelling his deal at Pittodrie by mutual consent on Hogmanay and is desperate to kick-start his career in Fife after being frozen-out in the Granite City.
He was snapped up by Derek McInnes after leaving Dundee United following their relegation to the Championship, but saw his bid to make an immediate impact ruined by an untimely Achilles injury.
Morris eventually regained full fitness, even winning his maiden call-up to the Northern Ireland set-up in September, but could not get a look-in at club level behind the likes of Ash Taylor, Mark Reynolds and Anthony O’Connor.
“I got the opportunity to join Aberdeen. They are obviously a massive club, playing in Europe, pushing for cups and challenging at the top of the SPFL,” said Morris.
“But in pre-season I got a niggling injury and never got the opportunity that I felt I merited. That is just how football goes.
“I worked hard every day, put in extra training but it just didn’t work out. But I have no regrets – I couldn’t turn down an opportunity like that.
“Now I am just looking forward to getting back into training with the lads and hopefully get in the team. It is up to me now to stake a claim, which I am more than looking forward to.”
It is Morris’ second stint with the Pars, having made 67 appearances for the club between 2012 and 2014, and quickly cementing himself as a fans’ favourite.
While it proved a springboard for Morris – moving on to Dundee United after two seasons before joining Aberdeen – it was a tumultuous period for Dunfermline, who entered administration in 2013 and were subsequently relegated to League One.
However, he is delighted to return to a club which is now run in a financially prudent manner and currently on an eight-match unbeaten run as they eye a playoff push in the Championship.
“[Administration] was a bit of a dark time,” he continued. “But it just shows you when people come together like that you can drag yourselves through to the other side.
“Look at the club now, they have a great squad and are on a great run at the minute and looking up the table.”
Morris admits to a sense of deja vu when he returned to East End Park to be greeted by a swathe of familiar faces, from former teammates such as Joe Cardle and Andy Geggan to long-serving kit-man Mo Hutton.
He could make his second debut for the club against St Mirren on Saturday – and has not ruled out extending his stay beyond the end of the season.
“[Physio] Kenny Murray, Mo Hutton, all the back room people, they are still the same,” he told dafc.co.uk. “Even the Chairman [Ross McArthur] was here before. I know it has only been two and a half years, but that felt like a lifetime.
“Yet when I walked back through the door it was like I had never been away.
“I am signed until the end of the season and will work hard to get into the team and play. We will see what happens from there.”
