Special insoles the secret behind winger King’s return to United first team

United star to wear special aids in his boots to cure enduring knee problem

Dundee United’s Billy King has revealed he has to wear special insoles in his boots – to cure the knee problem that has caused him to miss the start of the season.

The winger finally made his comeback last week, coming on in the 65th minute of the Irn-Bru Cup tie with Alloa at Tannadice.

King admitted it was a relief to be on the pitch again after a frustrating time on the sidelines.

Now though, with the help of specialists, he is looking to kick on once more starting this afternoon in United’s Championship match with Morton at Tannadice.

The 24-year-old said: “It has been a tough few months but thankfully I’m getting through it.

“What I have is called ITB friction syndrome, which is basically overuse on the tendon on the side of your knee.

“They have traced it to an underlying problem with my feet.

“What has been happening is my feet roll in the way, it’s a genetic thing.

“So I have been to Hampden to the sports clinic and they got me special insoles for my boots to help me out a bit.

“They are confident this is one of the big factors in my injury.

“You wouldn’t think a simple problem with your feet would affect your knee but everything is connected. So I am wearing these insoles now and it feels better already.

“The specialists I have seen have all said everything has to be cohesive in the leg so I’m hoping these insoles will really help.”

King also played for the United reserves against St Johnstone in midweek and although he feels he is still needing more time before he can last a full 90 minutes, he will be ready if called upon by boss Csaba Laszlo today.

He added: “I played in the game last weekend and also in the reserves, so I feel I can be involved for some amount of time this Saturday.

“I know I wouldn’t be able to play 90 minutes because I have been out for so long, but if the manager needs me, I can play some part against Morton.

“Because I have been out for so long, it’s match sharpness I need to get now.

“I have been training fine, it’s just about getting games and building it up from there.”

Before recovering from his injury problem, King had watched on as a whole host of new faces arrived at Tannadice this summer with Laszlo making 14 new signings.

And the former Hearts player believes they are all starting to click.

He said: “There are a lot of new faces and that takes time to gel.

“I can see it in training, I can see the patterns of play the manager wants starting to develop.

“The link-up between everyone is starting to click, we are all getting used to each other.

“You can see from the way things are coming together that the understanding is beginning to build.

“We know we have a good team here, the squad is strong and I think we’ll keep improving as the months go on.”

Morton begin life under new manager Jonatan Johannson and the Cappielow boss, who took over after Ray McKinnon hot-footed it to Falkirk a fortnight ago, has been blown away by the attitude of the Greenock squad.

Johannson said: “I have been in at the