Seven months after he left Scotland in that country's most intriguing transfer of the year, a £1.6 million move from Hibs which saw his wage rocket to £16,000 per week at Lokomotiv, O'Connor has come to the conclusion that family issues are forcing him into a quick withdrawal. He is contemplating a move to the English Premiership or Championship during the January transfer window, although a league in western Europe would also appeal.

O'Connor, who turned 23 shortly after moving to Lokomotiv, is content with his life in Moscow but his partner, Lisa, has been unable to settle and has succumbed to loneliness. Recently she has been spending more time back in Scotland with their two-year-old son, Josh, a situation O'Connor will not be able to tolerate on a long-term basis.

"I'm still enjoying it at the moment but my family is not too sure about Russia, " he said during his return to Scotland for yesterday's international against France. "I don't think my missus can settle.

Lisa is finding it quite difficult and we are going to have to look at the bigger picture at the end of the season. I have spoken to the club about it and they understand. It happens with all their foreign players.

"Lisa is from Port Seton, basically a small village near Musselburgh, and moving from there to a big city like Moscow has been hard. Even going to restaurants and things like that has been difficult. I can speak a little bit of Russian but she has none.

"My family means everything to me and at the end of the season we will sit down and talk it over. Josh is coming up for three and we have to do the right thing for him too. It's actually not that bad for me in Moscow. The Lokomotiv players are at the training camp most days so I have my football pals about me.

Once I'm in and about the club it's fine and they all speak English to me.

"But if Lisa is over then she is by herself and feels so isolated. I'm away two days before every game and am flying around the country to the away matches so it's hard for her. You can get British television if you buy a Sky card from over here and get someone in to fix it, but I don't have one.

"Being in Russia has made me more sympathetic to the foreign players who have struggled to settle in Scottish football. They must find it hard. The further away from home you are the harder it gets. I can look at the Brazilian players and so on who have struggled to settle in Scotland and understand why.

Not having your family round about you is tough."

In all other respects O'Connor's transfer has been a success. Lokomotiv finished third in the Russian league last season but are leading the 2006 championship with eight games remaining, a point clear of one of their neighbouring city clubs, CSKA. O'Connor, or "O'Kohhop" as it says on the back of his red and green home shirt, has started 17 games in all competitions and been used as a substitute in another seven. Having contributed nine goals so far he has been regarded as such a valuable addition that his club's management asked him whether there were more like him in the Scottish market.

"Lokomotiv have been asking me about the Scottish game. They are impressed with me and have asked if there are 'any more'. I've said there are a lot of good players at my old team Hibernian.

There is a lot of talent there."

Hibs accepted a £700,000 bid from Lokomotiv for Derek Riordan in February, only for the player to reject it and subsequently sign for Celtic where he has languished on the periphery.

O'Connor was far more bold, committing himself to a five-year deal and a life-changing experience, both financially and culturally, even if it gradually dawned on him that there was little prospect of him seeing out his contract. "If you take the family situation out of the equation, Russia has been great. We have a great coach [Slovoljub Muslin, a Serb] and he is doing very well with the team. They depend on their strikers to create as well as score goals and you are not used as a targetman. I've learned a lot technically.

"The amount of travelling is unbelievable. Every second week we're flying across Russia and it's worse when you're playing a European tie. Fortunately we got our away game against Vladivostok out of the way on the second week of the season. That's a ninehour flight with seven time changes, so you only get about four hours sleep. Vladivostok haven't lost a home game all season."

O'Connor may not have felt ready to confirm that he will ask to leave Lokomotiv, but the openness with which he discussed his possible next destination betrayed the fact his mind is already made up.

Italy or France, for example, would have practical benefits. "My missus could be closer to home so those might not be a problem. At the moment it takes hours, and two separate flights, to get to Moscow.

But if I was in Italy or France it might only be a single hourand-a-half flight from Scotland."

He will not sign for Hearts.

A month ago the Tynecastle club's owner, Vladimir Romanov, claimed he had attempted to buy O'Connor near the end of the summer transfer window and had received encouragement from Lokomotiv. Such a move would be as appealing as a cold plate of Russian borscht to Hibs supporters, and O'Connor will not subject them to it. "I couldn't do that to Hibs. I will be honest to Hibs and to [chairman] Rod Petrie, who looked after me. I couldn't do that to them.

"But hopefully I can come back to Scotland at some point, maybe when I'm 25 or 26. My missus would like that.

But I fancy the Premiership or the Championship, which are both very good leagues.

"The Russian season finishes on the 26th of November and then there are three months off so it could be that if I decide to move it will happen in January.

"I'm sure my agent [Gary Mackay] will speak to the club about it. Money isn't everything. I've spoken about it with my family and although my missus would rather I stayed on the same terms that might not be possible. I've also spoken with my mum and dad. If I have to take a wage cut, so be it."