Kilwinning Rangers boss Chris Strain is hoping his very own science Buff can give his side the edge this season.
The club this week appointed their first ever sports scientist to work directly with Strain and his players.
Ryan Hughes will oversee areas including strength and conditioning, fitness, nutrition, data performance analysis and preparation and rehabilitation duties.
And Strain reckons the university graduate can play a key role as the Buffs look to make a big impression in the new West of Scotland League.
He said: “I know a lot of people are cynical when it comes to sports science and certainly there are not many teams at our level who utilise it.
“At Kilwinning, we’re always looking for ways to ramp up the professionalism at the club and this is just another aspect of that.
“Ryan has a degree, he’s a local lad and he’s coming here to broaden his horizons and help us in areas I feel can be massively important.
“He will be involved in the training with us, collating data to help us analyse the players from a fitness and development point of view.
“He will help tailor individual programmes for the boys. Everyone is different and it’s no longer about running players until they drop.
“Injury prevention is another important area where his input will be vital. Knowing how far to push players, when to rest them and so on.”
“In the past I would have been relying purely on my own eyes and opinion in those areas which isn’t ideal when you think about it.
“The work Ryan does, dealing with science and facts, makes it much more black and white and that can only be a good thing. It will help us maximise performance which is exactly what you’d want.
“I’ve been looking for a long time to take us in this direction so we are delighted to get Ryan in.”
