RORY McKENZIE is ready to resume his Kilmarnock career after benefiting from the same state-of-the-art treatment used by tennis star Rafa Nadal to cure tendonitis in his knee.
The 21-year-old from Irvine is back in full training at Rugby Park this week after a two-month lay-off from first-team action, courtesy of the same revolutionary Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) therapy which lay behind the Mallorcan's miracle recovery from a similar problem in 2012. Under this controversial process - which was banned by WADA, the world anti-doping authority, in 2010, after fears it may have performance-enhancing properties, then subsequently made legal again 12 months later - blood is withdrawn from the system, spun with chemicals such as thrombin and calcium chloride, the subsequently injected into the tendon.
"I had the injury for a wee while and I was just trying to play through it," said McKenzie. "But it got to the stage where I could no longer do it. I was waking up some mornings not being able to move it or get out of bed.
"But the physios were great," he added. "We tried a few things early on, I tried to come back and it didn't really go to plan. So I went to Dunfermline to get the process done. It was something I hadn't heard of before called PRP. They take blood then spin it around with some other ingredient in it, then inject it back into your tendon. Then they put shockwaves into your tendon to try to get the swelling away. The surgeon who gave it to me said all the top clubs are using it now. I have been training all week so I hope to be involved, even if I will maybe not start."
The doomsday scenario is that the injury is a result of wear and tear on the artificial Rugby Park surface but McKenzie feels it is just his luck. "You look at boys in other teams and they have got it, even though they train on grass," McKenzie said. "So it is just bad luck, basically."
McKenzie's fortunes may be on the turn in any case. His probable return to the Kilmarnock first team on Saturday against Motherwell sees him join a side, under interim boss Gary Locke, which has lost just one of their last eight games. Consequently Locke is likely to be installed as a permanent replacement for Allan Johnston before kick-off and McKenzie feels he has more than earned it.
"I hope he gets the job," said the 21-year-old. "I was probably only in the youth team when he was here as a player but he has brought a bit of enthusiasm. Everyone really wants to play for him. I have only played one game under him, but just from speaking to guys like Chris Johnston in the dressing room, you can tell he has brought confidence back into the team and that can only be a good thing."
While the paperwork is all but concluded on a deal to see Locke confirmed as manager, the prospect of a fourth spell at the club for Kris Boyd is rather less of a formality. The Rangers striker, who is out of favour and out of contract at Ibrox this summer, has been linked with a fourth spell at the Ayrshire club this summer, although there is unlikely to a shortage of alternative suitors. McKenzie for one is hopeful that the man who scored 22 times here last season re-signs, even if it means enduring the odd earbashing from time to time.
"Bringing somebody back with his quality would be great," said McKenzie. "I enjoyed it when he was here. It was tough at times - he would get on your back - but actually I think that helped me improve and I would love to have him back. If he is in the box and you don't pass it to him he is not happy. It helped me, nine times out of ten if you got him the ball in the box he would score, so he made me look good. He almost single-handedly kept us in the league that year if we get him back we know there will be goals - and that is something I think we have just been missing: someone to stick the ball in the net when it has been goalless."
++Rory McKenzie was speaking at a Tesco Bank Football Festival at Rugby Park. Over 700 children from 16 schools are expected to be involved in this year's programme across East Ayrshire
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