The 27-year-old had suffered a nasty knee injury against Arbroath in early February.
Douglas – who had been out for nine months with an ACL injury during his spell with Annan – feared the worst but when he was told it was a cartilage issue he breathed a huge sigh of relief.
And when a surgeon laid out his options – either to get it repaired and be out for several months or just taken out and out for two months – Douglas admits it was an easy decision.
He said: “I’ve had a clicking knee throughout the season. I always thought it was my cartilage but the way it gave way against Arbroath, I feared the worst.
“I’ve done my ACL before and all I remember is my knee buckling. I couldn’t straighten my leg until I had the op.
“Luckily enough, it was my cartilage and I was over the moon.
“The surgeon gave me the option to repair it and I’d be out for three to six months or just get it cut out.
“I just wanted to get it cut out because all I want to do is play football and help the club into the play-offs. I’ll worry about my knee when I’m 50 and need a knee replacement. Football is a short career.
“I had the scan on the Tuesday after the match and was getting my results the next day. That night I didn’t sleep, my girlfriend was asking me why I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was the scan results. I couldn’t do another nine months out of football again.
“The club have been brilliant as I got in for the op ten days after the injury. I can’t thank the club enough for getting it all sorted quickly and making sure I’m back.”
Since the op, Douglas has made a speedy recovery – well ahead of schedule – and made his return against his former club Annan Athletic last weekend.
Douglas was walking on a tight-rope for 88 minutes of the contest after picking up a caution but after that he strolled the encounter, despite admitting he was shattered.
He added: “It’s always good to play in a derby but coming back after seven weeks out, it’s even better. Especially, as we won and the fans could go home happy.
“I thought the yellow card was a harsh decision. It was my first game back and I thought ‘oh no, here we go’. But after that I got into the game and I felt fine. My knee was fine, I was just a little leggy towards the end but that’s got to be expected after seven weeks out.”
And now the focus is on Montrose at Palmerston this Saturday. The Dumfries club has offered under 16s free tickets if they attend with a paying adult.
With four games left and sitting just in fourth spot, Douglas wants to finish the season off on a high.
He added: “It’s a massive game on Saturday. They’ve picked up as well so we need to prepare properly and put everything into the Montrose match and hopefully we can get enough points to be in the play-offs.
“You can see we’re starting to click. It’s maybe taken a bit longer than we thought but we’ve got a young side. We’re all learning. This is my first year back into first team football since I was 18. There’s a lot of boys still learning. We’re clicking at the right time and we need to take it game by game.”
