Stuart McKinstry joked that his first Motherwell goal annoyed some of his family who are Rangers fans, but they’re all buzzing to see him back at Fir Park.
McKinstry scored his maiden first-team goal in the 2-1 defeat against Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side onn October 16, grabbing his second six days later in a 2-1 defeat at home to Aberdeen.
And he hopes to continue scoring when Motherwell travel to Hearts on Sunday.
Winger McKinstry, who is on a season-long loan from Leeds United – having moved there from the Fir Park academy in 2019 – says he’s setting in well and nearing peak fitness, having endured a tricky pre-season.
He said: “It has been good. I’ve got a couple of Rangers fans in my family so when the [first] goal went in they weren’t too happy!
“My granddad is a massive Motherwell fan and I used to go to games with him.
“I always said when I left Motherwell that I wanted to let him see me play for Motherwell, and I didn’t know if that was going to happen or not.
“So it was a happy moment for me. The family are all buzzing, and they just want me to keep going and see how much further I can go this season.”
McKinstry added: “It was mixed emotions, getting the first goal; obviously the way that the game was going, the result maybe wasn’t ideal.
“But that was something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid, so to say I’ve done it was special.
“I’ve never really been a player who gets a lot of goals, I’d maybe tend to get more assists.
“But to get them in my first couple of games really gave me a bit of confidence that I can get more.
“It’s two in two games, so it was a weird feeling, but it was a good one.
“I’ve not really had a chance to properly celebrate actually scoring a goal, so I think when that comes it will be more of a special feeling.
“But it’s still good to see the ball hit the net, once you’ve hit the shot. I’m looking forward to scoring more, and hopefully it will happen soon.”
McKinstry, who is in the Scotland under-21 squad for a clash against Iceland at Fir Park on November 17, says uncertainty over his future during the summer left him in a bit of turmoil during pre-season, but he’s getting there.
He said: “I had a bit of a shaky pre-season, and I still don’t feel like I’m at full fitness yet, but being able to last 90 minutes since I’ve come in has been good.
“I still feel like I’ve got a long way to go, so I just need to keep working hard, and I know that it will come with more performances and minutes I get.
“It was just not really knowing where I was going to go, and stuff, and a lot of issues that I had myself.
“It took me time to get over that, and still perform on the park, and get my fitness back.
“It was a struggle, but I got through it and I’ve come out the other side. I’m happy with what’s happened.
“Motherwell had always been the place I would want to go, and when it came about I couldn’t believe it was going to happen.
“Now it’s happened, I’m still buzzing a couple of months later.”
Next on the horizon for McKinstry an his team-mates is a trip to face a Hearts side sitting one place and a point ahead of them in fifth, albeit with a game in hand.
McKinstry said: “Tynecastle isn’t an easy place to go, they’re a big team, a good team, and got some good results in Europe.
“But we’ll go in the same way we go to any ground. We know what we need to do.
“Last week was a good result [1-0 at Dundee United] and we just need to build on what we did there.
“Getting a win would be huge. We’re only four points off third. The way the table is just now, anything can happen.
“So we know if we get these results we’ll be as high up the table as we can be, so we’re just looking to do that.”
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