A GROUP gather around a computer screen as a YouTube clip plays over and over again.

There is confused debate. How did he do that? The movement, the deception and the speed combine bewilderingly. This was a magical act but not of the traditional kind. Instead it was footage of Gary Mackay-Steven's bamboozling trick against St Johnstone last Saturday that had this audience captivated.

Only after the umpteenth rewind and repeat was a consensus of sorts reached as to just how the Dundee United winger managed to befuddle three defenders with an enthralling piece of skill. And even then a degree of uncertainty remains.

The move came to nothing but that he had the audacity to try it at all says a lot about where Mackay-Steven is right now, and just how far he has come. Still just 21, the winger has been tipped for stardom ever since Liverpool saw him playing for Ross County's youth teams at 17 and took him to Anfield. That is not the most impressive part of his story, though. His greatest achievement has been to shrug off the disappointment of two injury-interrupted years on Merseyside, and a subsequent six-month period without a club, to fight his way back to the point where a Scotland call-up is now being spoken about. That says as much about his desire as it does his undoubted talent.

It was at Airdrie United that Mackay-Steven began on the road to recovery. After leaving Anfield, he failed to earn a deal at Fulham and returned north. Falkirk and Inverness Caledonian Thistle were thought to have had a look at him but decided to pass. Instead it was Jimmy Boyle at Airdrie who, last January, decided to take a chance on the Thurso-born player, handing him a contract until the summer.

If signing him was a risk, then it certainly proved to be one worth taking. Boyle encountered a player shorn of confidence but whose ability remained intact. Then it was a case of offering encouragement and letting Mackay-Steven's talent do the rest. "I'm not surprised that Gary's doing so well as when he first came in to us you could tell he had good ability," Boyle told Herald Sport. "He had lost his way a bit in terms of confidence but we just gave him the chance to express himself and just enjoy it.

"He had floated about a wee bit; a few clubs had said no to him and vice versa, but I always felt if we got his confidence back up he could be a player as he was really down on himself. Talent like that doesn't just leave you, he just needed somebody to believe in him. We said we would work hard with him if he did the same. He was as good as his word."

It was not long before others were alerted to Mackay-Steven's progress, part-time Airdrie allowing their player to train with United during the day. It was no surprise to Boyle, then, that Peter Houston decided to sign him last summer. "Peter saw what Gary had and took a chance on him," said Boyle. "We allowed him to train with United so they could get a look at him, and also helped us as it got him fitter. Gary really enjoyed that experience, he would come back to us on the Saturday really buzzing as United were treating him really well.

"At the end of the season we asked him if he would sign again but he had a chance with United and he did that. Peter and his staff have got the best out of him. He looks stronger, he looks like he's enjoying himself and I'm delighted for him. I spoke to Peter when we played them in the cup and he said Gary was showing a great work ethic and doing everything they were asking of him. We both think there's more to come from him."

Mackay-Steven recently signed an extension to his contract that ties him to United until 2015 but Boyle believes that the player is destined for even bigger things one day. "I think he'll go further in the game, maybe back down south again. United have got a themselves a gem."