SFL in focus: Snow is just one more obstacle for Bayne on the road to recovery

• Graham Bayne's contract with Dunfermline was cancelled after his long-term heel injury failed to respond to treatment Picture: SNS

Another ruined fixture card due to weather trouble is, for Bayne, simply another unwanted weekend spent away from a football pitch.

Bayne's case is a complicated one and, onlookers hope, due to have a happy ending at some point soon. Dunfermline Athletic cancelled their striker's contract in August - as was within their rights - after he failed to recover from a most severe case of plantar fasciitis.

The injury, commonly found amongst American football players, is a basic inflammation of the heel. Synthetic surfaces may be at the root of the matter, but no straightforward cure - beyond basic rest - has been found. Other football players have the problem but manage to play on; Bayne's ailment was so painful that he simply could not train. There may be light emerging, though, at the end of the tunnel.

"The bad weather has actually come at the worst possible time for me," the 31-year-old said.

"I had got back to the stage where I was completing running sessions, with a couple of days' rest in between. The next stage was to try training five days on the trot to see if I could sustain that. Just when I was ready for it, feet of snow appeared."

Bayne has never been told that he should not play professional football, but one point is clear; whilst his injury remains, his body cannot cope with the game's demands. His only hope is that months away from the field have solved the career-threatening problem.

"I have spoken to about every specialist about it and the number of things I have tried as a cure is ridiculous," Bayne explained.

"I have had shock wave therapy - 3,000 blasts of waves through my feet - and have slept with a special sock on which had a band tied round my toe, so as to keep my calf muscle stretched while I was sleeping.

"All of the specialists said to me to avoid the operation which is provided for the injury, but I got to the stage where I had tried everything else. And it seemed as though the surgery had worked; then three days of pre-season training, obviously the most intense work you can do, and the pain was back.

"I had played from last August until December last year with no problem. Then one day in training I just jumped for a header and this sharp, wrenching pain arrived."

Bayne has been assisted in his attempt to recover fitness by Dunfermline's medical team. The Fife club's manager, Jim McIntyre, labelled the powerful Bayne "the best forward of his kind in the First Division" when lamenting his exit from East End Park.

Only time will tell if McIntyre offers new terms to the striker if he returns to perfect condition. As a popular player, though, and one who has improved with age, Bayne is already on the radar of other SFL clubs who would, as a minimum, offer training facilities to aid his comeback.

"Dunfermline have kept tabs on me but whether or now they would have me back I don't know, it hasn't been mentioned," Bayne said.

"But they have been really, really good in helping me over the last few months.

"I've had other people on the phone but there's nothing concrete there. My only aim is to be in a position where I'm fit enough to play for someone. Beyond that, it won't be easy because there are so many players out of work and clubs have filled their squads already for this season. And my core fitness obviously has to come back."

Bayne has passed recent time working with AM Soccer Schools in Fife, with the teaching of young children a pastime he admits has given him a fresh interest in coaching.

On Saturdays, the former Dundee and Inverness player has joined several ex-professionals in providing statistical analysis of matches for the Press Association, a scheme set-up by PFA Scotland.

"I have genuinely really enjoyed the coaching and getting out to games on a Saturday has been a bonus," Bayne added.

"Covering Dunfermline games has been hard, because a large part of me says that could and should be me out on the pitch playing.

"What has been quite humbling has been how supportive everyone has been towards me. I've had countless phonecalls of support and people offering to help, both from inside and outside football.

"I've relished the other things I have got into over the past few months but I still want to see if I can get back on to the pitch this time. I won't make any decisions about my future before I know that."