Killie’s Kiltie happy to be back on the pitch
GREG KILTIE is enjoying match days at Kilmarnock again after enduring six months of helplessness through injury.
It was feared t he 20-year-old attacker would miss the rest of the season after having surgery on a tendon behind the knee in October.
However, he returned for the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Inverness at the beginning of the month then
Pplayed against Rangers – only his seventh appearance of the season – before sitting out the trip to Celtic at the weekend.
Kiltie hopes to be back for the visit of Hearts to Rugby Park on Friday night and is thankful a “frustrating” time on the sidelines is over.
He said: “It was not the season I exactly wanted but it is a positive to be back on the pitch.
“It was never nice on match day, coming in to ARTICK Thistle may be safely inside the top six already, but they have no intention of downing tools when they visit Rangers in the last game before the split.
The Jags have not beaten tomorrow’s opponents since 1993, and they last won at Ibrox back in October 1981.
But, at the end of a week that saw them announce plans for a new £4million training ground, assistant boss Scott Paterson reckons the squad are on a high and ready to kick on.
“It’s been a great week, not just getting into the top six, but the training ground news as well,” he said yesterday.
“Our season doesn’t stop now, and we’ve said that to the players.
“We have to try and put as watch the boys knowing you have no input whatsoever on the pitch.
“Of course you can go in the dressing room and wish them all the best but not being on the pitch to be able to help them is honestly the worst thing ever.
“There was loads of games at Christmas to come and watch and I couldn’t be part of any of them.
“But there was the break in January and I much pressure as we can on Hearts now. We’re going for a positive result on Saturday.
“We should be going there nice and relaxed, because there’s no pressure on us at all. The only pressure is the one the players put on themselves to do well - but you do that in every game.
“We’re not going there with our holiday hats on, we’re going there to try and get a positive results.
“There’s so much to play for, individually and as a team. If money is your god then you can play for bonuses as well as points.”
Thistle got the post-split matches they expected, with games against the top three at home.
As things stand they are just three points behind fifth-placed Hearts, who they meet next week at Tynecastle.
So if results go their way this weekend, they could visit Edin- burgh knowing a win would push them up a place - which would be a great achievement for a squad who were rock bottom of the table at the end of last year.
“Cast your mind back to December when we were bottom but we always had that belief we would turn it around,” Paterson said.
“We kept believing and we worked hard, and they deserve all the credit they’ve been getting.”
Tcould see the end. I started to run at the end of January and I was thinking I could get games before the end of the season so that helped a lot.
“I couldn’t ask for a better rehab. I would love to play every game now but I have been out for six months so it is going to be hard to get my body back into it. I just look to play as many games as possible, take care of myself and look forward to next season.” HE new training ground, to be financed by the Weir family, is a dream come true for Paterson and manager Alan Archibald.
In fact, as Paterson revealed, the players reckoned it was too good to be true when they were told the news earlier in the week.
“Before the announcement of the training ground we told the players, and they all thought it was a wind-up, to be honest. They’re
Partick Thistle beat Kilmarnock to a top-six spot at the weekend with a 1-0 home win over Motherwell.
Killie are in seventh, nine points ahead of bottom side Inverness with six fixtures remaining but Kiltie is not taking safety for granted.
“You are never safe until you are mathematically but a victory would be a step in the right direction. We need to focus on finishing seventh.” all talking about it, and for myself and Archie we’ve always said we wanted our own facility and now we will – it’s great.
“It’s not just great for the first team, but for the academy and young players too. We were delighted when we got our current facility, but we’re lucky if we have it for three or four months a year. It’s not our own.
“Hopefully that news and getting into the top six can help us attract better players.
“We’re realistic and we know what type of player that we can afford, but it has to be the right player for us. The majority of the current squad are signed up already, which is a great thing for us.
“People talk about the top six as a great achievement, but for me this club reaching safety every year is an achievement in itself. It allows us to plan ahead and that’s a game before the split.”