Aberdeen attacker Scott Wright is delighted to have Greg Stewart back at Pittodrie and helping to bring on his own game.
Stewart, 28, has returned to the Dons on loan for the second half of the season, after spending the first half of the campaign on fine form for todays’s Premiership opponents, Kilmarnock.
He netted eight times in 16 matches for Killie.
Reds boss Derek McInnes swooped when Stewart was recalled by parent club Birmingham City at the turn of the year and sealed a return for versatile attacker Stewart, who spent 2017/18 with the Dons.
Youngster Wright, 21, gets on well with the ex-Dundee and Cowdenbeath player – with both seeming to favour being played through the middle – and hopes to once again soak up some of his team-mate’s experience.
Wright said: “Greg was here last season. He’s an absolutely fantastic player.
“Even if he never said anything, I could watch him in training and pick up little bits and pieces.
“But he’s a really great guy. He’s got a lot of time for me, which I can’t thank him enough for.
“He says little things which will always help. You pick up stuff from defenders, like body positioning, attackers: ‘this is what I would do. That’s what you should do’.”
The clash with Killie at Pittodrie this afternoon has been given added spice by Stewart choosing a Granite City return over Rugby Park this month.
It is already a fixture with immense importance in the title race, where fourth-placed Aberdeen sit three points behind table-toppers Celtic, with Killie just two points ahead and Rangers level with the Reds on 42 points.
And apart from a 1-1 post-winter break Scottish Cup draw with Stenhousemuir, the Dons have been flying.
Picking up six wins in their last seven league matches, including the 3-0 win over Hamilton on Wednesday at the CBD Hope Stadium, has added to the buoyant mood at Pittodrie, according to Wright. He said: “We’re looking forward to it (Kilmarnock).
“Obviously the Stenhousemuir game was a disappointment but the assistant manager Tony Docherty said in the changing room the best thing about football (is you get a chance to make up for it in the next game).
“More often than not, you have to wait a week or two weeks, depending on breaks, but this time a game came thick and fast with Hamilton.
“The boys did superbly in the game and now it’s straight back into another one.
“It’s a massive game now. The Killie game has become massive for them and for us with us being so high up in the table now.
“Hamilton’s kept it going but it’s always been a tight-knit changing room.
“The manager brings in players who will fit in and we welcome them with open arms. It’s really great.”
Of his own season so far, youth system product Wright concedes competition is fierce in his position with the likes of Stewart, Gary Mackay-Steven, Niall McGinn and Connor McLennan all fighting for slots in the starting 11.
However, with six starts at the halfway point in the season this time around, compared to seven in total for the 2017/18 campaign, he thinks he’s moving in the right direction.
He said: “You try to build from season to season, like stepping stones.
“As frustrating as it is, all you can do is bide your time and fight for your place in the team.
“The team is excellent and with Greg Stewart coming back in it’s only going to make competition for places greater.
“It’s about making sure I can show the manager I deserve to play.”