RICHARD HASTINGS last night thanked brother Jason for helping him make his comeback - then vowed to become a mainstay again for Inverness Caley Thistle.
Hastings made his long-awaited return after suffering for a month on the sidelines with a hip injury as Craig Brewster's side beat Gretna 3-0 to book their place in the CIS Cup quarter-finals.
The Canadian ace has spent the last few weeks being put through his paces by fitness guru Jason who in the summer was given a role in the Highlanders' backroom team to ensure they are as fit as any other SPL team.
And the flying full-back hopes his brother's gruelling fitness schedule will enable him to nail down the left-back position he had held until injury struck.
Hastings said: "It's always frustrating when you're out injured but you've just go to keep your chin up and keep working hard.
"Jason has still been working alongside me so that's helped my progress as well as keeping my spirits up.
"I enjoy working with him as he knows his stuff and likes to push you hard.
"It was good to start my first game since the third one of the season at St Mirren because since then my hip has been causing me some problems.
"I felt good and now hopefully I can take things from here and carry on playing.
"It's up to the manager, of course, and I know he's been happy with the way the team have been playing.
"All I can do is pose the question to him and see what happens."
Hastings is sure the cup specialists can go on another run now they're in the hat for today's last-eight draw.
He said: "There's no reason why we can't progress. A few SPL teams have been knocked out and if the draw is kind you never know what can happen.
"The lads have shown they're more than capable of rising to the occasion in cup competitions. That's become the norm here so it would be great if we could do so again."
Having dumped Hearts to secure their first SPL victory last weekend, Brewster's men are aiming for their revival to continue, with Falkirk next up this weekend.
Hastings knows all about Brew's magic from his first stint in charge of the club.
And he is confident the much-respected player-boss can help his troops shine again.
Hastings said: "I enjoyed working with Craig the first time.
"We weren't playing all that badly before he came back but with a couple of wins under our belts there's every chance we can go on to better things."
