Barrie McKay Q&A: Difficult injury moments and Hearts role

The playmaker discussed his injury journey when he met the press. Here is everything he had to say:

Happy to be back?

Aye, definitely. It has been a long time coming. It was three months, it was more frustrating because I had the injury in the summer. I came back from that and felt I was in a good place. Then you pull up again and you’re out for longer. It was just unfortunate. I was quite unlucky. But you need to get on with it and make sure you are doing everything right to get back fit.

It must have been quite hard to deal with when you spend all that time in rehab in the summer and then realise you have to go through it all again?

The only thing that kept me sane was I was doing different exercises! It was unfortunate. There was no way you could have predicted it. It was a weird one.I had to get on with it. I had down days and you do feel down about it. You’re working all week but you don’t have a game on a Saturday to look forward to. But when you are injured you need to get on with it and still be positive around the place, no moping around and bringing other people down.

READ MORE: How a few steps infield could result in a giant leap forward for Barrie McKay

It was quite a busy treatment room, was everyone helping each other?

I had Halks and Boycy, who are two of my good friends, in there as well. Being injured at the same time, it’s not ideal for any of us. But on those down days you’re able to pick one another up and have a laugh. It’s just different stuff that helps you through and makes it go in a wee bit quicker as well.

What was weird about the injury?

I did my PCL but unusually when you do it, it’s a contact injury. You usually do more but I was just literally running in a straight line. The specialist had never seen that before. So it was unpredictable. When I pulled up I think everybody thought: hamstring. But when the scan came back it said my knee. It was just a weird one and I had never heard of that injury before and probably the worst thing you can do is go home and Google it and it tells you your leg is about to get amputated! It’s one of those ones you need to deal with. You listen to the physios advice and go from there.

How bad was the pain?

The weird thing is I pulled up and felt something but I wasn’t in a lot of pain. It just got stiff more than anything and you get put in a brace. So your leg stiffens up with that, I had a brace on 24/7 for eight weeks. It was just uncomfortable and you just can't wait to get it off.

Did you know what the injury was or was it a surprise when you found out?

I remember Shanks coming over to me and asking if I had done my hamstring. I said no, it was my knee. Never done it before but it is weird how you just know your own body. I just had a feeling. You don’t really hear of PCL injuries in football, it’s more ACLs, MCLs.

What did you think when you heard PCL? What is the timescale, are you back on schedule or ahead of schedule?

With the specialist I'm on schedule. I have done everything by the book. I was eight weeks in a brace and to be honest that was probably best case scenario. As I said, you go home and go on Google and some people are in a brace for 12 weeks, even longer. You don’t get surgery, it heals with the brace and the position you are in.

You weren't immediately thinking 'I'm out for a year' if it was an ACL?

I had no idea to be honest. I remember getting the phone call from the physio and my heart just sank a little bit. I had been back a week of football and played three games. I was fully fit and in squads for a week. That was the hardest thing to take when you get that phone call. You know about hamstrings and take it from there. But because of the unknown I didn’t know if my season was done or I would be back in a x amount of time. You listen to specialists, the physio and you go from there.

How did you find the process of returning to training and then getting back into the first-team squad? Did you play many bounce games?

We played a couple in training so I've been part of that. Once I was out of the brace you then build it up again and once you’re out of the brace you try and build it up and make sure everything is strong. I did all the testing to make sure my body could cope with the impact of running. And then you do a couple of weeks of non contact training and full training and you just kind of keep building it up. It has been a long journey, but it hasn’t been the worst.

Patience must be a big thing because you don't want to have the same injury again?

With being injured you want to get back as fast as you can, no one likes being injured. Because I had the injury in the summer and coming back from this one as well, I had to make sure it was right. There was no point in cutting corners and maybe coming back a week or two early and breaking down again. You have to make sure you are doing everything by the book and make sure that everything is done right to give you the best chance to be fit for the rest of the season.

Was it hard mentally having the injuries back to back? Have you had another time in football as hard as that?

Since I've come to Hearts I've never been injured. I've never experienced it before so I have been quite lucky. To get two relatively bad ones straight after each other is probably quite freak. You need to deal with it, it is the risk you take as a footballer that there is always a chance you can get injured. The way that I play there is probably a good chance you can get kicked the wrong way and the amount of kicks I've taken already and nothing has come from it. You just need to deal with it and I have got good people around me to help me deal with that.

READ MORE: The 6 selection decisions facing Steven Naismith for Hearts trip to Aberdeen

Did you know you had that mental resilience in you to come through those injuries so quickly?

I've been injured in the past but I was a lot younger. You have got good people around you here that if you are down they can pick you up, I've got a good family at home who do the exact same thing. Sometimes if you need to be alone they leave you alone. It was just one of those ones where I became more determined the second time to come back stronger again and make sure I am alright for the rest of the season.

Was that arguably the strongest best Hearts have ever had? The manager's got so many options now?

The squad is healthy and it has probably helped the injured ones as well, the fact there is not that added pressure of 'we need you back for this date'. If you needed an extra week you got the extra week and stuff like that. It is massive to see Halks back as well, he's been out a long time and I know he's had a hard time of it as well. It's brilliant to see him back involved and ready to go.

It must give you huge belief for the second half of the season?

Definitely. At any club it is about the competition. If boys are on it and playing then the ones waiting to play are on it as well it's only going to make the squad better and make everybody better as well. It's about everyone pushing in the same direction and that's probably the most important thing.

Looking at the team over the last few weeks do you see a particular role you would like?

I think that's up to the manager, whatever he sees. If he plays me in that formation (3-5-2), whatever position, if he changes formation, it is just a call he makes. Wherever I play, I play. I've played numerous positions in my career and experienced enough to know where I need to be on the pitch if I am playing certain positions and you just get on with it really. At the end of the day that's his call. I can't go to him and say 'I'm only playing this position so this is the formation you need to play'. It's his decision and you just go where you are told. 

READ MORE: Steven Naismith Q&A: Hearts competition, goal issue and Aberdeen expectation

Are you surprised where Aberdeen are sitting and do you see them as being third place contenders?

It's nothing really to do with us what they do. I don't think they have lost many players to what they had last season and they got third with that. They've just been on a bit of a bad run. It's up to us what we do when we go up there and we are going there to win and that's what we need to do, we know what we need to do and we will look at ourselves and how we can hurt them.

How hard was playing Thursday-Sunday last season?

It can be tough but if you ask any player they will say they want to play both games. I did it last year and I never wanted to be rested. I'd rather play and you want to be competing against these top teams and that's what you need to put your body through. You see all the top, top teams and they just bash through the games pretty easily all season. If you want to be in the top competitions that's what you need to do. It can be tough with all the travelling, flights, coming back, playing away from home. It's about us and finding a way to win.

Did it hurt when Aberdeen pipped you to third?

It is a tough one to take. If you can't get the top two you want to be the third team and guarantees you Europe until Christmas, guarantees you all the glamour ties and the top teams. These are the competitions you want to play in. Obviously we had the chance of the Conference this year but we just fell short. If you ask any player in the changing room they want to be playing in the top competitions against the top players.