Heart of Midlothian have seen a decent start to the season descend into a poor run of form and perhaps the international break has arrived at the best time.
Steven Naismith secured a spot in the Europa Conference League playoff round following a wonderful aggregate victory over Norwegian giants Rosenborg but the previous few weeks have been anything but promising.
Since defeating Partick Thistle in the League Cup last 16 on 20 August, the Gorgie outfit have proceeded to lose their next four matches, scoring just once while conceding eight goals in the process.
Two Premiership defeats to Dundee and Motherwell alongside losing 6-1 on aggregate to PAOK means Hearts enter the international break occupying eighth spot in the table, winning just one of their four league matches so far.
Would their results have differed had Naismith been able to call on the services of Barrie McKay for the previous few matches? He has proven that he is among one of Hearts' finer performers when fit.
How long is Barrie McKay injured for?
The left-winger has started just one match this season as he recovered from an ankle injury which kept him out for six games at the end of the 2022/23 campaign and into the current term.
During their 2-1 home loss to PAOK a few weeks ago, however, McKay sustained a knee injury and Naismith gave an update on the injury shortly after, saying:
"Barrie, I think it's worse than a couple of days or a couple of weeks. We're still waiting to hear back from the specialist. He will probably be out a bit longer than we had hoped. It was strange. He felt it in his knee but the symptoms were showing it might have been calf or hamstring. I think it is more something to do with the knee. Until we hear what the specialist has to say, we aren't going to speculate.”
They have certainly missed him recently and since arriving back in Scotland in the summer of 2021, he has been a consistent performer.
How much did Hearts sign Barrie McKay for?
The one-cap Scotland international began his career at Rangers, making 140 appearances for the Ibrox side before moving south of the border to join Nottingham Forest in 2017 for a fee of around £500k.
German club RB Leipzig showed interest in the player in January of that year, coming close to tabling a £6m bid for the player, yet he left for a fraction of that just six months later and his time in England wasn’t as productive as anticipated.
He made 118 appearances for Forest, Swansea City and Fleetwood Town during his four years down south, playing across the Championship and League One, yet he scored only 13 goals during those four years.
Having departed the Welsh club due to his contract expiring, Hearts swooped and secured McKay for nothing in what was a relatively risk-free gamble, and he came with prior experience of the Scottish top flight.
What is Barrie McKay worth now?
His first season at the Jambos was a success as the 28-year-old scored twice while grabbing 12 assists across 38 matches in all competitions.
The 5 foot 8 dynamo even ranked third in the squad for his league performances, receiving a Sofascore rating of 7.15 while also ranking second for goals and assists (12), first for big chances created (15) and key passes per game (2.5) along with ranking second for successful dribbles per game (1.2) with these performances having led Hearts to a third-place finish that season.
Due to Rangers reaching the Europa League final that term, Hearts were guaranteed group-stage European football during the 2022/23 campaign, and they ended up playing in the Europa Conference League group stage.
McKay carried on his wonderful form for the Tynecastle side as he ranked second in the squad for key passes per game during their European adventure, while also finishing top of the pile for successful dribbles per game (2.2) and it certainly proved that not only was he starring domestically, but the winger was exuding his excellent attacking abilities on the continent to great use.
Once again, he also reached double figures for goals and assists last term in the league campaign (ten) alongside completing 1.5 successful dribbles per game and these figures ranked him third and first across the squad as Hearts finished fourth, dropping a place from the season below.
These performances have seen the 28-year-old restore his reputation with Football Transfers now valuing him at €1.7m (£1.5m), which suggests Hearts could make a solid profit should they decide to sell the Scot at the end of the season.
How much does Barrie McKay earn?
The former Rangers gem was lauded by journalist Joel Sked during their win over Rosenborg in August, who said: “Cameron Devlin! As emphatic a finish as you’ll see. A huge goal for Hearts with Barrie McKay making a positive impact off the bench already.”
He is currently one of Hearts’ highest earners, taking home £3.5k-per-week, yet there is no doubt he is worth every penny, especially considering the form he has shown since joining the club two years ago.
His market value was once an impressive €5.3m (£4.5m) and this was after just six months at Forest, as he looked to help them try and secure promotion to the Premier League.
His spell in England didn’t quite work out, but this has been Hearts’ gain, with McKay arriving at Tynecastle with a point to prove, and his two-year stint has given him the chance to showcase his wonderful talents which were on show during his time at Ibrox.
The quicker Naismith is able to select him in his starting XI the better as the club have endured a tough few weeks on the pitch.
They will regroup during the international break while hoping McKay is only out for a matter of weeks, not months.
There will be no midweek distractions this term and hopefully this will see the Jambos retake that third spot which was snatched off of them by Aberdeen during the final few weeks of last season.
With McKay fit and firing, it is more than achievable.