Proud Motherwell dad Barry McKnight hopes son Kirk’s loan transfer to Dumbarton can open doors for the teenager.
McKnight, 16, has joined the Sons on a six-month loan from Kilmarnock, where he is on an amateur contract, having moved to the Ayrshire club from Motherwell FC Community Trust three years ago.
Former Dalziel High pupil Kirk was thrown in for his professional debut in Dumbarton’s 2-1 Premier Sports Cup defeat to Stenhousemuir last Tuesday, and Barry says the whole thing has been like a whirlwind.
But he hopes Stevie Farrell taking a chance on Kirk helps the right-sided defender/midfielder’s fledgling career.
Barry said: “It’s exciting times for Kirk, and somebody has obviously seen something in him, so I hope it opens a lot of doors for him.
“He’s over the moon that Steven Farrell has given him the opportunity to even train with these guys and just learn from them.
“There are some seasoned pros there, but there are some really good young players too, so it’s a cracking opportunity, and he’s still training full-time with Kilmarnock.
“It’s a real surprise for him to be loaned out to make his professional debut elsewhere, while he’s at Kilmarnock, but it’s a great thing.
“I thought he would just be going there to train and see what he could do, but they put him on in the game.”
Barry added: “It’s exciting times for him and somebody has obviously seen something in him.
“It might open doors for him; he might end up getting a professional contract at Kilmarnock, but since they don’t have a ‘B’ team you want to be at a team where you can try and play through onto some sort of pathway.
“It’s just all a wee bit sudden; the phone has been ringing here, there and everywhere with different things.
“He’s landed lucky though; he has teammates who might never get a professional hit.”
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