King: 'Ton was right club at wrong time'

The former Hearts kid joined the Ton at the end of September on a short-term deal with the hope of getting himself fully fit and back to his best.

But after moving on from Cappielow at the beginning of the year he now feels that it was a case of the right club at the wrong time.

The 25-year-old says that it has been a turbulent year for him on and off the park as he looks to find his way again, having switched to League of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic.

King says that overall the last 12 months has been one of the toughest periods of his life.

He told the Tele: “It didn’t really work out for me at Morton the way I wanted, it turned into a bit of a shambles at the end.

“I was on loan at Gillingham from Dundee United and I never really played down there, and I hadn’t played in ages.

“I was without a team over the summer so was having to train myself for about two and a half months, which was nowhere near the intensity of what its like at a club.

“I then obviously signed with Morton, who were maybe five or so games into their season.

"I’d come in completely unfit and I just couldn’t get going.

“Then when I did get into the team it was usually as a sub.

“I think the best way to sum it up was that I got injured when I had my first start against Brora, it was just an absolute nightmare, it just didn’t really work out for me at all.

“There was the potential there for it to work, but whenever it looked like it could something usually got in the way, which for me was getting injured.

“The period as a whole was just frustrating.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fit going in, which the gaffer acknowledged and said to everyone, so we’d worked to get me fit and stuff.

“Then when I was nearly up there ready to go I’d always get a wee niggle.

“When I did get my chance, I thought I’d done quite well in all honesty and then I got injured in the game with ten minutes to go.

"I felt a tweak in my knee, but these things happen and you just need to get on with them."

Spells without a club have taken a financial toll on the former Inverness and Rangers man.

He said: “Going a year without regular football has been quite tough.

“Not playing is one thing, but when you’re not getting paid and you’ve got a mortgage and bills to pay, it’s really mentally straining.

“It was frustrating that I was having to borrow money from my folks and that’s one of the bad things about football, the side that you don’t get to see – especially at the lower level of football.

“You don’t have the comfort of the top-flight footballers, who’ve had their big moves.

“If you’re not getting paid then you’ve maybe got the luxury of dipping into your savings whilst if you’re playing at the lower levels of Scottish football.

"It can be really difficult when you’re without a club and not playing altogether.

“Last year was a really difficult period for me, but thankfully I’ve got through it and I can just focus on enjoying myself and my football over in Ireland.”

King says that he is relishing living away from home outside of the UK for the first time and has enjoyed adapting to a new lifestyle and routine as he looks to resurrect his career and replicate the form that saw him win eight Scotland U21 caps.

He told the Tele: “Living in Ireland is obviously a bit different.

“We’re based just outside Dublin but when you’re living in a house with six other lads there’s always something to do on your days off.

"Dublin has a lot of culture on display and there’s a lot of different things to do, so I’ve been able to have my mates across to watch one of our games.

"We play on Friday nights here, so you’re maybe in meeting for a recovery on a Saturday morning and then you’ve got the rest of the weekend off, it’s really good.

“It’s a bit different playing on the Friday, but I’m really enjoying making that change because you’ve got the full weekend to go and enjoy yourself and relax, I can go and see different parts of Ireland.

“It’s a different experience, that’s for sure, but I’m really enjoying myself.

“It was an experience that I needed – I needed to play games and start enjoying my football again, which I haven’t been in the last year.

“Playing for St Pat's is the perfect opportunity for me to get my career back on track, and there’s the chance to be playing European football at the end of the season if we do well enough in the league."