Keith co-captain Ryan Robertson is pleased to be back in action having missed the first half of the season.
The Maroons defender made his first start of the campaign in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Turriff United at the Haughs.
A patellar tendon problem kept Robertson, who is co-captain at Kynoch Park alongside James Brownie, on the sidelines.
The 33-year-old said: “Saturday was my first start this season, I’ve been back training for the last four or five weeks.
“Hopefully if all goes well then that’ll be me available for the rest of the season.
“It was good to play 90 minutes against Turriff, but it was disappointing not to get something from the game and from a personal point of view I should do better in the build up to their goal.
“It’s not how I wanted to mark my comeback, but hopefully it’s onwards and upwards from here and I can get more minutes in the tank and get back to my best.”
Robertson had to undergo shockwave therapy to recover from his injury which he sustained at the tail end of last season.
He added: “There were some small tears in the patellar tendon in my right knee.
“At the end of last season, it was getting worse and worse and the pile up of midweek games probably didn’t do me any favours.
“It didn’t really settle down during the summer and I had to get two rounds of shockwave therapy either side of pre-season.
“Since then I’ve been building up to coming back, it was a long seven months out of action, but it was good to get back on the pitch on Saturday.”
Plenty to play for
Keith are currently sitting 14th in the Breedon Highland League with 21 points.
With 15 games remaining this term Robertson wants the Maroons to better last season’s tally of 33 points, which saw them finish 13th.
Keith are also still in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield and are at home to Fraserburgh in the quarter-final.
Robertson said: “Each season you look to progress, as a squad this season I think we’re more than capable of beating last season’s position and points tally.
“I feel a bit sorry for the management team because we haven’t had everyone available for any game this season.
“A lot of key players and senior players have been out injured this season, but I think we’ve got a good squad.
“The Shield is still to come and we view that as a massive opportunity for the club.
“It won’t be an easy game against Fraserburgh, but on our day we’re capable of winning.
“We want to try to get through and it’s a massive incentive because we want the club to be fighting for silverware.”
McKeown is a man on a mission
Meanwhile, Turriff United’s Reece McKeown has twin targets for the rest of the season.
On an individual basis, the attacker is aiming to hit 15 goals, and he hopes to help the Haughs side reach a final and climb into the top half of the Breedon Highland League.
A move into a central position has resulted in McKeown finding a rich vein of scoring form recently.
The 24-year-old has netted seven times in Turra’s last seven matches and has scored nine goals in total this term – with his latest strike being the winner against Keith on Saturday.
He said: “I like playing through the middle and I’ve scored a few goals since moving into that position.
“It’s benefited me and I think it’s helped the team as well – we’re unbeaten in six games so it’s looking good.
“Once I started playing through the middle, I set myself the target of 15 goals and I’m not too far away from that.
“But the main thing is about the team picking up points and climbing the table, whether I’m scoring or not.”
Confidence key for Turra
Turriff’s current six-match unbeaten streak is in stark contrast to their form earlier in the season when they endured a run of just one victory in 14 games in all competitions.
United are 13th in the Highland League, but McKeown believes they can reach the top half, while they also have a home semi-final to look forward to against either Keith or Fraserburgh in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
McKeown added: “Everyone is buzzing to play and to try to keep the run going.
“Callan Gray is back, John Allan is back and Andrew Watt will hopefully be back soon as well, so we’re in a good position to push on.
“We had a sickening spell where we went on a bad run and struggled to win and you come in every week and there’s a bit of dread about the team you’re playing.
“But confidence is everything in football, and once you get a good result, it changes everything.
“The Shield is very important – there’s a chance for us to get into a cup final.
“In the league, getting into the top half is potentially quite a challenge, but that’s where we want the club to be going forward.
“We don’t want to be in the bottom half of the table, so we need to try to plod on and reach the top half in the league.”
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