Malky Mackay hails 'mature' midfielder Scott Allardice after picking Ross County midfielder as man of the match against Hibernian and Celtic
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Malky Mackay has hailed the impact of Scott Allardice after the Ross County midfielder's return from injury – but insists the 25-year-old can still push himself to even greater heights.
Allardice signed from Highland rivals Inverness Caledonian Thistle upon the expiry of his contract with the Championships outfit this summer, but has had a frustrating start to life in Dingwall.
Having gone straight into the starting 11 for County's League Cup group stage matches, he picked up an injury on the opening day of the league season away at Celtic – taking him out of action for the best part of two months.
Returning to the fold at the end of October, Allardice was eased back into action, but was named by Mackay as his player of the match against both Hibernian and Celtic in recent weeks.
The County boss is delighted with the impact his summer signing is beginning to have, and insists Staggies supporters have not yet seen the best of Allardice.
"Scott was someone that, in the summer when we talked to him, really wanted a chance to prove himself in the top league," Mackay explained.
"Clearly he was a very cultured player in the Championship, but he felt he wanted to really challenge himself to become a Premiership centre midfielder.
"Initially he came in and I think the frenetic nature of the Premiership – it's just a wee bit quicker, and players are just that little bit more consistent – took a bit of getting used to.
"He worked hard to get his fitness levels up to that point, but then he took a big knock at Celtic Park. It seemed innocuous at the time, but it turned out it wasn't.
"It's one of those ones that we were initially, privately, really worried, and when it came back we weren't sure how he was going to go, but bizarrely he recovered really quickly.
"He then needed a bit of time to catch up with everybody – he essentially did a mini pre-season again – and then it was about getting back up to match sharpness, so he played behind closed doors friendlies and North of Scotland Cup games.
"Scott knows that he has to keep pushing and keep working on that part of his game, but his reading of the game more than anything else has been brilliant, and he has shown a real maturity that I'm really happy with.
"It's something that I'm going to keep pushing with him, because I think Scott still has another 20 per cent left in the tank to go. He just needs to keep working on the little bits and pieces that might hamper him getting there."
