The Northern Ireland international has been back on the bench and is looking to complete his comeback from a three-month lay-off when St Johnstone visit Paisley on Saturday.

The 27-year-old said: "It's fantastic to be back. I didn't know if I'd be back this season but I had luck on my side.

"It's always hard when you don't know whether your season is going to be over. I was waiting for a while for the swelling to go down to test the ankle and that was probably the slowest four weeks of my life, waiting to know if I needed an operation or if I could kick on with my rehab.

"Luckily enough the ankle seemed pretty stable and I could kick on back at Rangers with the medical staff there, who were fantastic. They pushed me and I pushed myself to get back as quickly as I could.

"My main thought at the time when I did my injury was missing games with St Mirren. It never came into my mind being out of contract.

"Hopefully I can play a part before the end of the season and contribute to keeping the club in the Premiership. But the team is going well so I will need to be patient but I am ready if the gaffer needs me.

"Keeping St Mirren in the Premiership would be fantastic, a great end to my season, but for everyone in the community and the club. We will give it our all and fight right to the end."

Hodson will wait until St Mirren's season ends – whether that is on May 18 or after the play-offs – to seriously consider his future.

"It's still quite early, the window doesn't open until June," he said. "My focus has just been on getting back fit and doing the best I can for this club.

"It's in the back of my mind but my main focus is on St Mirren. When the last game of the season is done, that's when I can look at my next step and what my options will be."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Gavin McCafferty, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '31f6a81d-5b1b-420d-8423-55e2389aa500');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Lee Hodson focused on St Mirren rather than future following injury'});