Kilmarnock handed good news over fitness of Rory McKenzie

Kilmarnock have been handed good news over the fitness of Rory McKenzie after fearing he was out for a lengthy period.

The midfielder suffered a thigh injury before coming off in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Motherwell in his first start since August.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Celtic Park, boss Derek McInnes said: “Rory is probably going to miss Saturday’s game. He’s got a slight tear in his thigh. Thankfully, it’s not as bad as we’d thought.

“Initially, after the game last Saturday, we were fearing the worst with it, but we’ve been treating that as a grade one, which is normally 10 to 16 days. So hopefully he’ll just miss the one game, which has been a bit of a godsend for us.”

Lewis Mayo went off earlier with a knee injury but could shake it off before the clash with the William Hill Premiership leaders.

McInnes said: “He’s not trained with the squad this week. He’s done a lot of work with the physio so we’re just trying to limit the impact on his knee but we’re hoping he’s fine for the weekend.”

The positive news comes off the back of the return to fitness of Stuart Findlay and Kyle Vassell.

Findlay made his first start in six months last weekend following ankle surgery while Vassell was back in the matchday squad for the first time in three months.

And McInnes believes their influence will spread beyond their own performances.

“The beauty of a lot of players now is somebody like Stuart Findlay has the ability to make the guys next to him better,” he said.

“That is becoming, not a dying trait, but it’s something that used to always be the case. People run about with good influence and not only deal with their own game but allow others to be better. I feel Vassell and Findlay are two of these types.

“Leading by example, showing experience, dealing with one-on-one situations, staying calm.

“I thought we looked really calm when we were defending as opposed to how we were the week before where we looked a wee bit rattled unnecessarily.”