Dylan Mackenzie would love to help Nairn County challenge for silverware following his long injury lay-off.
The Wee County meet Lossiemouth tonight at Station Park in the first round of the North of Scotland Cup.
Mackenzie returned to competitive action on Saturday for the first time since October 19 2019 having been out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The 22-year-old attacker said: “We played Wick at home and I played 90 minutes but the right at the I jarred my knee in a standing tackle.
“I came off the park and showered, changed and went home but by the time I got home I’d kind of seized up.
“I didn’t realise how bad it was and the next day I couldn’t move it, bend it or walk.
I’d kind of seized up.” Dylan Mackenzie
“I was in and out of the hospital and going back and forth to the doctor.
“Initially they thought it was my meniscus but later on it was discovered it was an ACL injury.
“As a result of the time it took to get to the bottom of it I didn’t need surgery because I’d already done physio to build up the area around the knee.
“So they thought I was OK to carry on without the surgery.”
Cup hopes with County
Following that spell on the sidelines Mackenzie would like to help Nairn to success in the North of Scotland Cup.
He added: “We’re always looking to try to progress from last year and at the start of every season we want to build on what we’ve done before.
“In this cup it’s two or three games and you’re in the final so it’s a good target to try to aim for.
“It can depend on draws as well, but we always want to improve and the next step up would be to reach a final or win a cup.”
Goalkeeper can be key for Lossie
Lossiemouth will be hoping to bounce back following Saturday’s 5-0 loss to Buckie Thistle.
The Coasters will again have 17-year-old on-loan Ross County goalkeeper Logan Ross involved.
After a short loan spell at Grant Park last term Ross is back with Lossiemouth and manager Joe Russell reckons he will be an important addition.
Russell said: “Logan played on Saturday and it was a bit of a baptism of fire for him.
“There was one or two things he could maybe have done better, but that’s what you get with young players.
“I’m sure he’ll learn from the mistakes he made, but he also made some really good saves.
“The short period we had Logan last year he was a presense at the back and he was talking constantly and giving good information to his back four.
“Logan will definitely be a good asset for us this season.”
