Tommy Wright insists Chris Stokes is playing a captain’s role off the pitch at Kilmarnock as he prepares to make his long-awaited return on it.
The 30-year-old centre-back was made skipper at Rugby Park after making a positive first impression following his summer move from English League Two side Forest Green Rovers.
However, disaster struck in mid-August when he suffered a serious hamstring injury in the 2-0 League Cup defeat at Hibernian.
Stokes has been sidelined ever since but Killie boss Wright confirmed he looks set to return to training in the next week with plans for a bounce match being made before the end of the month.
And Wright is looking forward to seeing the big defender lead by example as Killie aim to bounce back from their 1-0 cinch Championship defeat to Partick Thistle with victory at Morton this Saturday.
He said: “We have a game pencilled in around November 22 for Stokesy and he should be in training in about a week to 10 days.
“He has been great. I think in the short time and the games that he played, the fans really warmed to him.
“They could see how good a player he was, a good organiser and really good on the ball. There was an early connection he was able to make.
“Since then, given the type of person he is, he speaks to fans on matchdays, he makes himself available for things and, as captain, he still plays a big part in the dressing room.
“He gives advice and is in charge of collecting fine money as well. There’s a great interaction between him and the other players and I think he dishes out a few fines as well!
“He is still a leader for me in the dressing room on a day-to-day basis but obviously can’t do the bit on the pitch for me at the minute and that’s where, I must say, Euan Murray has done extremely well.
“He is still contributing and that’s a measure of the type of person he is and how experienced he is. He has been in dressing rooms for a number of years, and been captain, so he does know the role.”
Meanwhile, Wright has outlined his strategy for the January transfer window and acknowledged the depth of quality in the group could see Kilmarnock stick with what they’ve got for the title run-in.
The gaffer added: “The squad is in a good place at the minute. Come January, one or two might say they haven’t played as much and want to go out on loan.
“It will be up to me to deal with that in the best way for both the club and the player.
“If it is a younger player, the likelihood is you would say that going on loan is good for you. If it is someone I need to keep, it’s up to me to persuade them to stay.”
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