Kerr McInroy has discussed his time at Celtic and what he hopes for going forward as a Kilmarnock player.
After spending last season on loan at Airdrieonians and Ayr United, the midfielder is taking the step-up after signing a two-year permanent deal with newly promoted Kilmarnock.
Having being sent out on loan on three occasions for Celtic, the former academy player struggled to break into the first team.
The little game time McInroy had alongside first team regulars came in the form of friendly matches which he believes to have benefited him.
“I did pre-season with Brendan Rodgers, went away with Neil Lennon too and also did last season with the new manager Ange Postecoglou. It was good to learn from them,” said Kerr McInroy speaking to The Herald.
“Brendan was really good with me, I learnt a lot from him and it was a good learning curve. It opened my eyes to the level I was playing at, being beside the likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong. They were good to learn from everyday.
“I’ve had loans in the Championship and League One since. I was a young player, I didn’t want to sit about at Celtic, I wanted to go out and play. I wanted to prove myself in the lower leagues first. I feel like I’ve done that as I scored a few goals and played a lot of games.
“But my view was I had enough of the loans, I wanted to get settled and play football and Celtic helped me with that by letting me go. I have done the loans, it’s good playing games but you need to be in somewhere and playing.”
The midfielder who has represented Scotland at U17, U19 and U21 level still has plenty of time to forge a career for himself in the game as he only turns 22 in August.
There are many players in a similar position to McInroy which supporters will hope to come to an end as Ange Postecoglou looks at the academy closer going forward. In recent years, many players have went on to have decent careers with clubs in Scotland and beyond but just not managed to make the grade at Celtic.
With it being announced that Harry Kewell will join the coaching staff at the club, Stephen McManus will move to work with Celtic’s B team. The manager has already placed an emphasis on how important a role this is going forward meaning that it is hoped that more talent will be able to make the step up to the first team.
