Arsenal loanee Alex Kirk’s season appears to be over, with the injured defender wishing Ayr United well for the rest of the campaign without him.

The Daily Record report that after suffering an ankle ligament strain in Ayr United’s defeat to Dundee, Alex Kirk has since had a scan that effectively rules him out for the season.

“I’m gutted to be honest,” Kirk said. “This is never the way I’d want my time up here to end.

“I had hoped it was just a case of rolling my ankle at Dundee but it’s looking like I’ll be out for longer than we first thought.

“It’s so frustrating because I wanted to be part of the promotion push and give it my all in these final few games.

“The one thing I know is the boys have the ability to go on and do the job. I’ll be cheering them on from afar and have full confidence they can get it done.”

Going out on your first loan spell is always a bit of a risk, as you never know how you’ll adapt to the leap to consistent senior football, and whether you’ll be able to keep your place in the team.

With that in mind, it was encouraging to see Kirk playing so often this season.

The defender had made 24 appearances (23 starts) before this latest injury, despite also suffering an injury setback in November.

The Daily Record write that Kirk has “proved to be one of Ayr’s standouts, with his composed displays at the back winning rave reviews”.

But the centre-back is now returning to Arsenal for further treatment, and he’s already got one eye on the future.

“The aim is to go back down there (to Arsenal) and hopefully catch the attention of the manager,” Kirk said. “That would be the dream.

“I have another year left on my contract so we’ll see what the future holds. It would be great to celebrate a double success for Arsenal and Ayr this season – that would be the icing on the cake.”