With just assistant boss Scott Paterson and goalkeeping coach Craig Hinchcliffe alongside him in the dugout, interim Jags gaffer Alan Archibald has turned to a familiar face to boost his coaching staff.
It has allowed MacKenzie an unexpected return to the game and the former Ayr United No.2 is delighted to be part of the Partick project.
He said: "It is just over a fortnight I have been here now. I know big Archie well and I have been to see Thistle a lot this season.
"He phoned me and asked if I wanted to come in and help him out. It was an easy decision for me to make.
"It has been going well. I do some work with the younger players and am involved with the first team as well.
"It gets me back into the fold. I have been out the game for a while so I am delighted to be working with Thistle.
"When you are away from the day-to-day involvement at a club, you really miss it.
"And it is a great group of boys to work with at Thistle. They are all enthusiastic, they work hard for each other and want to be successful.
"It is a good pressure that is on us, we are up there trying to get promotion to the SPL.
"I would rather be up there than down at the bottom of the league fighting to stay in it.
"We have a lot of hard games coming up but if you want to win the league, you need to win difficult games and get big results."
THE move has come at the perfect time for MacKenzie to get back in the game, with Archibald leading the Jags on a five-game unbeaten run in his first weeks in charge.
Wins over Hamilton, Airdrie, Dunfermline and Dumbarton have kept Thistle within touching distance of Irn-Bru First Division leaders Morton and, with two games in hand, they are still favourites to lift the league trophy.
It remains to be seen if Archibald will be given the chance to attempt to lead the side to the title, but MacKenzie reckons the Firhill legend has already done enough to land the top job on a permanent basis.
He said: "I can't believe they have not made a decision yet to be honest.
"Archie has been great. It is hard to make the transition from being a player to the manager but he has handled it really well. He has good people around him with Scott Paterson and Hinchy.
"All he needs is results and hopefully the more he gets the better his chances will be of getting the job full-time.
"He has carried on where Jackie McNamara left off. The players really respond to him and they all want him to get the job. He has handled the situation really well and deserves his chance."
