Kilmarnock gaffer Derek McInnes admits they’ll have to play it ‘smart’ with Kyle Magennis after his return from a year on the sidelines.
The midfielder penned a three-year deal with the club at the start of last season and immediately shone before a niggling injury in September saw him ruled out for three months.
Unfortunately, his return lasted only two minutes as he was forced off in a clash away at Livingston in December.
Having initially looked at a return a couple of months ago, the 26-year-old finally made it back on the pitch in their recent 1-1 draw at Dundee United.
And McInnes, who confessed he tried to sign Magennis while manager at Aberdeen, insists the club will do everything possible to ensure he remains injury-free.
He said: “I’ve watched Kyle since he was a wee boy. He played in the same youth team as my son and I always knew his qualities. When he broke into St Mirren’s first team it was no real surprise to me and he was always a player that I watched closely.
“I had an interest in him when I was at Aberdeen and if the circumstances had been right it would have been one I would have liked to have taken.
“He got his move to Hibs after a bad injury at St Mirren and unfortunately for him he’s just not really been able to get that run of staying fit. With the greatest respect, the reason we managed to get him to Kilmarnock is because of his injuries.”
He added: “We took a bit of a risk and up until now you would have to say that it’s not been justified, the signing of him. But last season, the first 12 games or so, he was arguably as good a player as we had in the team and he played week in, week out, so we’ve seen wee signs of it.
“We’re trying to manage his training week now differently so he trains a day and then he’s with the physio the next day. He never does two consecutive days with the team.
“We’ve looked at all the signs, we’ve looked at his strength, we’ve looked at all the testing, everything adds up that he’s fit to go and has been for a while but we’re just trying to share the load a wee bit on his body and on his hamstrings until hopefully he gets to a stage where he can train two or three days in a row like most footballers.
“He’s desperate to train and play as much as he can but to give him the best chance at that we’re going to have to be smart and give him the best opportunity.”
Don’t miss the latest Ayrshire headlines –sign up to our free daily newsletter