McCusker hopes to make his Marc with Rovers

Jun 17 2009 by Colin Paterson, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

MARC McCUSKER could have been one of the hundreds of players spending the summer on the soccer scrapheap, writes Colin Paterson.

Injured and with barely a few games to his name last season, the 19-year-old admits he would have been struggling to catch the eye of many gaffers.

So if the Motherwell-based striker is glad of one thing from his turbulent 2008-09 campaign, it is that he made a positive impact during his loan spell with Albion Rovers.

For his stint at Cliftonhill, which was cut short due to a knee injury, led to boss Paul Martin offering him a deal when Clyde decided to terminate the contracts of all of their playing staff.

Having committed to Rovers for next season, McCusker is now ready to put injuries and the chaotic situation he found himself in at the cash-strapped Bully Wee behind him.

The signing of a confidentiality agreement means much of what was discussed at Broadwood will stay behind closed doors but McCusker admits it wasn’t a great time.

He told the Advertiser: “We were all told what was happening and I think it was quite surprising how things were turning out.

“It wasn’t a nice situation as some of the guys were due to get married and now they were having to deal with something like this.

“I think most of them will get fixed up with new clubs as there are a lot of good players in the group.

“I had kept in contact with a few of the boys at Rovers after I was there on loan as I’d met a lot of good people.

“And when Clyde were trying to terminate everyone’s contract, Paul was on the phone right away and said he wanted me to sign.

“That gave me a lot of confidence as I would have been struggling to get a new club simply because of the injuries I had suffered.”

McCusker knows next season’s third division campaign will be extremely competitive but reckons Rovers have what it takes to battle for promotion.

He added: “It could be anybody’s league and there is no reason why we can’t be one of the teams challenging near the top.

“I definitely want to be part of a team that is pushing for the play-offs and I feel it is an achievable target for us.

“We’ve also been given a couple of decent early cup draws and it would be nice to go on a good run in at least one of the competitions.”

McCusker has started full running following knee surgery and a double hernia operation and is desperate to make a quick return to action.

“I won’t be ready for day one but I should be able to do some of the pre-season training,” he said.

“There have been no problems or setbacks so far so, hopefully, things will stay that way.”