JOINING his hometown club has been described by Kerr McInroy as a "perfect" move – and has delighted a proud family member into the bargain.

The 20-year-old, a former pupil at Woodmill High School, signed on a season-long loan from Celtic last Tuesday and made an immediate impact that same evening, scoring twice in a 45-minute debut in a pre-season friendly at Spartans.

A Scotland under-19 international, McInroy has worked his way through the Hoops' academy system after moving under its school project to study at St Ninian's High School in Kirkintilloch.

He went on to captain their reserve team and, although he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament last May, he has returned to full fitness and is raring to try to play regular, competitive matches with Dunfermline.

It's a prospect that has thrilled his Pars-supporting grandfather and, speaking to Press Sport, he commented: "I stay at the top of Valleyfield now but I used to stay at Duloch Park when I was younger so I used to go and watch them when I was a wee guy with my grandad.

"I was only really three or four when I used to go. I can remember the Scottish Cup finals, in 2004 and 2007; I went to both of them. One year I was in the Celtic end, one year I was in the Dunfermline end!

"My granda is delighted I'm here. I think he was delighted because there's boys he went to the football with years ago giving him a phone, that he's not heard from in a while, saying is that your grandson signed with the Pars?

"The fact that I'm local does help me; I do know what Dunfermline's all about, so it probably suited me to come here. The Championship's a really good level, with a lot of competitive teams, and I needed to come and get games, so it suited me perfectly."

Boss Stevie Crawford revealed that, having first saw McInroy play for Celtic's reserves against Dunfermline shortly after he returned to the club as a coach in 2018, he had kept an eye on the midfielder's progress.

That was music to the player's ears, who admitted that suffering such a serious injury blow so early in his career had hit him "like a ton of bricks".

He continued: "He mentioned that to me when I signed, which was good, as I knew I was always in his thoughts. That was good to hear.

"I heard Dunfermline were interested and that, if I got the chance to go on loan, I'd be keen to come here. The Dunfermline thing came about so everything fitted perfectly for me to come; Celtic were happy with that, Dunfermline wanted me, and I wanted to come here, so it was perfect.

"I've been professional for about four years now and I was out for about a year with my injury so it's good to come and get games now.

"It was tough at the time; it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was a case of staying focused, building and knowing in a few months I'll be back playing games, looking forward and ticking off the weeks as they come. When I finally got to the stages of coming back, it felt unbelievable – what a relief.

"It definitely makes you stronger. The dark days and the tough days make you realise what you had, not take everything for granted and appreciate what you've got."

While looking to set a standard that will see him go back to Celtic and compete for a top-team berth, McInroy is hoping to add to what he reckons is a good standard of squad at Dunfermline.

"There's competition for places, and especially in midfield there's a lot of good players," he added.

"There's a lot of good teams in the league but I feel like we've got a really good squad, a young squad as well, which will help in our favour. It looks like we'll cause a lot of teams bother.

"We've got a good enough squad to be up there challenging but it's up to us to do the business on the park.

"It'll be a good level, good games every week, so hopefully I can do well and impress Celtic, get back there and push to get into their first-team squad."