After returning from the first significant injury layoff of his career, Dundee United defender Ross Graham believes he has come out the other end “all the better”.

The 23-year-old made his first start since in three months during Wednesday night’s 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park, having suffered a hamstring tear in a 1-0 win over St Mirren on October 5.

Graham has made two substitute appearances since returning to Jim Goodwin’s squad at the end of November but has not played 90 minutes since September’s 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

“It was a frustrating period and my first proper injury in my career,” he said. “It was a new experience for me to deal with.

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“But the boys were doing brilliantly so that made the process easier and I didn’t need to rush back, because everyone was playing well. When I eventually did get fully fit, the boys were doing so well that I couldn’t get myself in the team.

“I was delighted for the team and I’m always rooting for them, even if I’m on the sidelines.”

The central defender suffered several setbacks in his return to fitness, with an initial four-week layoff turning into seven.

“I felt like I was on a good run of form when it happened,” he said. “I was loving playing football week-in, week-out. But football is a rollercoaster – highs and lows all the time. That injury was a low at that moment.

“However, I think I’ve come out the other end all the better for it.”

Graham has returned to a high-flying Dundee United side, with the newly promoted club sitting third in the Scottish Premiership table.

Before defeats to Celtic and Hearts in their last two outings, United had only lost one in 10 and recorded several impressive wins over the festive period.

Kevin Holt’s 94th-minute header secured a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at the end of December, before Sam Dalby’s late winner saw the Tangerines triumph in a dramatic Dundee derby on January 2.

But Graham insists they're not getting carried away by their current league position.

“We’ve had a really good last few months,” Graham said. “Especially around the Christmas period – some really big results.

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost the last two, but the boys have worked really hard – a lot of sacrifices have been made – and you could see towards the end against Celtic that the boys had run themselves into the ground. That shows the graft we always put in.

“We know the quality we’ve got in our changing room, but we’ll not get complacent or ahead of ourselves.

"We’re the newly promoted team and are trying to solidify ourselves in the league as a first aim. After that, we’ll see how far we can go.”

Jim Goodwin's side take on St Mirren at the SMISA Stadium on Saturday.