Livi kid Sparky vows to beat injury jinx and play part in season run in

Jan 13 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

MARC ‘Sparky’ McNulty is hoping the spate of winter call-offs in the Second Division will hand him a top-team chance when the fixtures pile-up later in the campaign.

The Livingston striker is currently crocked after what he has admitted has been an injury season from hell – but he is hoping to return to action in a matter of weeks.

And 18-year-old Sparky, who netted an incredible haul of 53-goals last season, is hoping to catch senior team boss Gary Bollan’s eye and play his part in the second-half of the season.

He said: “A lot of games have been called off so we will have a couple of matches a week to come later in the season so maybe I will get my chance and a wee run as we will need to use the whole squad.

“I scored 53 goals last season in 20-something games, which I was delighted with, but I’m nowhere near that this year.

“I loved my taste of the first-team and hopefully I can get more playing time when I’m fit.”

Sparky was just returning to peak fitness after an operation when he was laid up by a different injury.

He explained: “I had an operation on my groin a few weeks ago and was just getting back to fitness with 45-minutes of a bounce match with the first-team under my belt and was looking good.

“But just as I was getting fit again I suffered a freak injury in training where I went over my ankle and tore ligaments, which has set me right back again for another couple of weeks.

“I’ve never really been injured before so all this is new and definitely the worst time of my career.

“I’ve had a lot of bad luck this season but hopefully I can get past it and back to playing again.”

THE Lions have only played one league fixture in almost two months and manager Gary Bollan admits it has been frustrating.

Bollan said: “We are more than ready to get back to playing regularly again and hopefully the weather stays clear and we can play Peterhead on Saturday.

“We played Rangers in a bounce match at Murray Park last week and everyone got a wee run out and they did well against a strong Rangers side.”

The transfer window may be open again with some clubs looking to recruit new players but Bollan has insisted there are no moves presently to bring in new faces to the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium.

Livingston will be without Cammy MacDonald and Darren Jamieson as well as Marc McNulty for the trip to Balmoor on Saturday while skipper Liam Fox and striker Iain Russell have both returned to full training following respective knocks.