Cumbernauld Colts interim player-boss Craig Malcolm admits he is desperate to get back fit so he can finally live out a dream of playing alongside his son Aiden.
The 37-year-old striker has taken the reins at Broadwood after David Proctor left the club last month, and has been put in charge for the foreseeable future as Colts hunt for a new gaffer.
It means Malcolm is now coaching 18-year-old striker Aiden as they hope to claw Colts out of relegation danger in the Lowland League. But that wasn’t the plan when Craig joined the club in the summer.
The former Stranraer and East Kilbride hitman was enticed to the club by Proctor in the hope of playing alongside his boy, but that dream is yet to become a reality after Malcolm pulled his hamstring on the opening day of the season in July.
And he said: “I’m desperate to get back fit because this is probably the last chance we’ll get to do it.
“I’ve got another scan this week and hopefully I get some positive news so I can start training again and get back out there with Aiden.
“I signed to play with my boy and that I’ve not got to do it yet is disappointing, but there is still a part of me that is hopeful I can get back fit so that happens.
“Aiden was playing with East Kilbride U20s last season and scored nearly 50 goals for them, so David Proctor brought him in.
“He asked me to come in and do pre-season with them to see how I’d go and I felt great.
“I was really enjoying it, training with Aiden, but then in the first game of the season against Celtic B I tore my hamstring.
“Aiden was on the bench that day and actually came on for me, so the only time we’ve been on the pitch is crossing paths for him to come on.
“I’m now standing on the side of the pitch trying not to shout at him as much as I shout at everybody else, but hopefully we’ll be out there together soon.”
Malcolm’s men are joint-bottom of the table with Gala Fairydean on 11 points and sit just above them on goal difference ahead of a huge meeting between the two sides on December 7 at Broadwood.
Before that, they travel to Linlithgow Rose this Saturday and Malcolm feels he is getting a tune out of the players.
He added: “There’s been a good reaction from the players, which you tend to find when someone takes over a struggling team, so it is about trying to maintain that going into some very important fixtures for the club over the coming weeks.
“The club did really well last season and signed some really good players who have now moved up the leagues.
“There was a big turnaround of players and unfortunately a lot of the experienced ones who came in, like me, who were meant to be in and around the young players to help them have picked up long-term injuries.
“So the younger ones have struggled on the pitch without the experience around them.
“The good news is we are starting to get some of these players back and there is a bit of competition there now, so hopefully we can start picking up results.”