The player, who has joined up with the Scotland Under-21 squad, was understandably relieved to conclude the deal.

“It’s been going on for some time, but I’m delighted now because everything is sorted,” said Maloney.

“I didn’t want it dragging on any longer so am I happy to finally sign it.

“The manager was hopefully very happy to have me and I’m very happy to stay so everybody’s happy with it.”

But despite being down the pecking order Maloney is not content to sit on the bench for the next four seasons.

He has Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton and John Hartson all ahead of him.

But he is confident his time will come and he is ready to fight for a place, unlike Mark Burchill and Colin Healy, who felt they had to move on to further their careers.

“There’s some good players ahead of me, but you can’t say that I’ll never get in because one day I want to be a regular,” added Maloney.

“Hopefully that day will be soon. I know how hard it’s going to be, but if I keep trying to improve myself hopefully I can do that.

“Colin is a wee bit older than me, but I understand his decision to move on because Colin wants to play regular football and, at the moment, he doesn’t think he can get that.

“But the club know he’s a good player and everybody at the club wants him to stay, but it’s a difficult decision for him.

“Mark has taken the decision and, like Colin Healy, wanted first team football.

“He decided to leave, but I’m not at that decision or that level yet.

“My contract was up at the end of the season, but I didn’t really think about that.

“I just wanted to negotiate a contract with the gaffer. He was very good.”