Kyle’s ready for the big kick-off

Kyle Magennis insists he is ready to prove why he has been tipped to be one of Scotland’s hottest properties.

The St Mirren midfielder, 19, already has a handful of youth caps under his belt as well as experience of playing for Scotland at the Toulon Tournament.

However, it is the prospect of turning out for the Buddies against the likes of Rangers and Celtic that has the youngster excited for the new season.

Despite his age, Magennis already has more than 50 first team appearances for the Paisley side, having made his debut back in 2016.

His performances over that time earned the central midfielder rave reviews as he nailed down a starting spot in the club’s title-winning side.

There were even rumours of a reunion with ex-boss Jack Ross at Sunderland this summer.

Despite Saints insisting they would be looking for upwards of £1million for his services, Magennis is solely focused on the Buddies after recently signing a new one-year deal with the club. He said: “I have been at this club since I was five years old. I think I have shown a lot of loyalty to the club and I don’t see why I shouldn’t have signed for another year.

“It is going to be brilliant when you are playing at the likes of Ibrox and Parkhead when they are full.

“It will be good to play at stadiums like that when they are packed. It will be a great experience for me.

“I massively enjoy games like that, even just the buzz leading up to the matches.

“There is that buzz in training all the way up to the game. They are the two biggest teams in Scotland so they are massive games and for me, at this age, it is brilliant to be able to go and showcase myself.

“We will be going up to the Premiership to test ourselves – but more importantly to try and get a good few results under our belt.”

Magennis heads home from the club’s training camp in La Manga this morning as the side prepare for their clash with Bolton this weekend.

He reckons the trip to Spain will pay dividends over the course of the season.

He added: “It has been brilliant. It is hard work when you are doing triple sessions but it is going to benefit us at the start of the season.”