MAIDEN VOYAGE
Aaron inspired by Danny’s journey
AARON McGOWAN hopes team-mate Danny Whitehall’s inspirational story will have a happy ending.
The defender is thrilled his former hotel-mate has landed a new six-month deal at Kilmarnock.
McGowan admires the way Whitehall has dug deep to forge a career at Scotland’s top level.
Having plied his trade at the likes of Southport and Marine after release as a kid from Liverpool, the striker spent time in the US before returning to star at Maidenhead.
Whitehall’s efforts got him a shot at Killie. And six months of hard graft sealed by a couple of goals in the last two games have won him another deal until the end of the season.
McGowan said: “I like it when someone has a different story.
“I like it when a lad doesn’t have the privileges that some have coming in from big academies and thinking they’re something they’re not and don’t train well. “He isn’t far from where I’m from in Liverpool. He went over to America for education and came back to play in the English non-league. I’ve played at some of those grounds in those leagues and sometimes you question yourself and ask, ‘What am I even doing here?’ “But he has gone through, scored goals and come up here on trial. People forget that, we didn’t sign him straight away, he had to work hard and earn his contract.
“Never give up, this is a perfect example of that. I had to come through a lower-league academy and it was hard. It was old school. You had to clean your own boots.
“There are a lot of players getting too much too young. For the younger lads looking at someone like Danny, they see he’s still playing at a big club.
“He is reaping his rewards now and I’m sure he will kick on. He has the technical ability and he definitely knows where the goal is, so I think he can be big for us.”
McGowan is adamant Killie can launch a bid for the top six, starting against his old club Accies today.
Alex Dyer’s men are looking to eradicate costly slips that have resulted in lost points. And McGowan said: “In all honesty I’ve been a culprit, especially earlier in the season against St Johnstone.
“That has been the problem, there hasn’t been one person you can pin it on, as a squad there have been too many mistakes.
“It’s frustrating but at the same time we need to start picking up results and doing it fast because I believe we still can get up the table.
“We’ve started to pick up a bit now. We were two minutes away from six points from two games so if we beat Hamilton then on paper it will be a good return.”