GREENOCK footballer Nicky Low believes he is having the best spell of his career plying his trade at Lowland League outfit East Stirlingshire.

The former Aberdeen kid admitted going part-time was partly forced due to his luck with injuries as he eyes a return to full-time football.

He’s found the drop helpful in more ways than one, though, as it’s keeping his persistent groin injuries at bay and he’s found he’s playing the best football of his career.

He hopes that this is the start of a clean slate as he settles back down to life in Greenock with his young family.

He told the Tele: “I’m actually loving playing at East Stirlingshire.

“This is the most I’ve played in all of my career due to being plagued by injuries and such like.

“I dropped down to part-time this year because my groin was giving me that much bother.

“It had been bothering me the last few years, so I thought to myself I’ll go part-time for a year to see if it helps and thankfully it has.

“I’ve had no problems; I’ve played every game that I’ve been available for so I’m buzzing and I’m hoping that can continue for as long as possible.

“Since I left Aberdeen injuries have just restricted me so much.

“It’s never really been about footballing ability because I know that I’ve got that from playing at a higher level.

“I think I had one injury when I was at Aberdeen, but I was on the bench a lot of the time so when I went to Dundee I thought I’d get a lot more game time there, hence why I signed a three-year deal.

“Ever since then I’ve never really got a break, because that’s when the injuries kicked in.

“I’m hoping that this is where my break comes now, at East Stirlingshire. I hope that I can stay fit and push on until the end of the season.

“This is my first time I’ve been able to really have been back home and spend some time with my family and I’ve got a newborn who’s only a week old.

“I was away in Aberdeen for years and then in Derry. I loved my time there at both clubs but I haven’t really been in Greenock since I was 16, so we just need to see what happens.”

Low admitted that he was surprised with the standard of the Lowland League and has tipped many teams to follow the path of the likes of Bonnyrigg Rose and Kelty Hearts who look set to make the jump to League Two sooner rather than later.

He says that he was close to joining boyhood club Morton on more than one occasion, but he hopes that one day he can get the chance to pull on a Ton strip at Cappielow.

He added: “Obviously you don’t really know what to expect if you haven’t played at that level before.

“Teams like BSC Glasgow, Kelty Hearts and Bonnyrigg are all really good teams, even the likes of Civil Service Strollers who are a really physical team, people don’t know about them because they don’t get a lot of coverage or have a lot of fans.

“The league is a really good standard and has a good calibre of player.

“I’d say the top eight teams in the league could easily go and play as high as League One from what I remember from when I played with Forfar as a young kid.

“A lot more teams will start to pursue the routes of going up through the pyramid and teams like Bonnyrigg are a prime example of that. They’re organised and well run.

“I go to all the Morton games when I can. Myself and all my mates are Morton fans.

“Obviously the results haven’t been that great this season, but hopefully they will pick up because the club have been brilliant with me.

“When it was the off-season in Ireland, they let me come in and train to keep my fitness up. They’ve got a good bunch of lads there, so I just hope they can kick on and get as far up the table as possible.

“I’d love to put on a Morton jersey one day. I was offered a deal in January time before I went to Queen of the South but because of my situation at the time, I ended up going to Palmerston.

“I would’ve signed last year for the terms offered but because of my groin and the way it was, obviously being a fan growing up and being a ball boy, but I wouldn’t want to rob Morton or any club for that matter of a full-time wage with my groin the way it is.

“If I can get that sorted then one day I could hopefully play at Cappielow.”