Rory McKenzie has paid tribute to the job carried out by Derek McInnes at Kilmarnock - hailing the current squad as the best he's seen in his 12 seasons as a first-team player.
The 30-year-old signed a one-year contract extension on Tuesday to maintain his stay at Rugby Park.
The midfielder has over 400 appearances for his boyhood club. Despite making just three starts this season, with the rest of his 19 appearances coming off the bench, he's determined to take his chance when he gets back into the starting line-up.
But with the likes of Kevin van Veen, Greg Stewart and Gary Mackay-Steven alongside him on the bench, he knows that competition for places is as strong as he can remember in his time at the club as they seek to secure a European place this season.
He told the press: “There wasn’t thought put into it (signing a new deal), it’s all I really know to be honest, and the talks were pretty simple and straight forward.
“I love being here, it’s five minutes away from where I stay, it’s a great place to be, all the people behind the scenes are all good friends and especially when things are going so well on the pitch I was happy to extend.
“We have strength in depth this season and I can’t remember a Kilmarnock squad in my time here as strong as this one so when we’ve been doing so well you can’t complain too much (about not starting) and it’s just about taking your chance when it comes.
READ MORE: The highs & lows of Derek McInnes' 100 games at Killie
“I would love to keep extending my stay here, it’s a family club, everyone gets on with everyone and I think what the manager has done in the last two and a half years is he’s built a squad of very good players and a squad that all get on really well together. So I just want to stay here as long as I can.
“Even if you look at our bench just now, where we have Greg Stewart, Gary Mackay-Steven and Kevin van Veen, if you had said that four years ago no one would have believed you.
“The club is going in the right direction and think if this time we can, having had experiences of where it has went wrong in previous years, have learned our lesson and finish the season strongly.”
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