Clarkey gunning for Scots silver...
KILMARNOCK manager Steve Clarke would like to add the William Hill Scottish Cup to his already impressive cup roll of honour.
Clarke left St Mirren for Chelsea just months before the Saints won the trophy in 1987 but he made up for it at Stamford Bridge where he won the FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup.
And as assistant to Jose Mourinho at the London giants, Clarke was a part of the coaching set-up which saw Chelsea win an FA Cup and two League Cups among other successes, before his Reading side reached the FA Cup semi-final in 2015 only to lose to eventual winners Arsenal.
Clarke won the Ladbrokes Premiership manager of the month award for December after four wins and two draws took the Ayrshire side into the top half of the table.
However, looking forward to the visit of Ross County in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup today, he highlighted his enthusiasm for the tournament.
“Cup competitions are always important,” he said. “It has always been a priority of mine. I have a few cup winners’ medals from down south and I would quite like to add one from Scotland.”
While Clarke flagged up the importance of a cup run he insists it is “not imperative”.
He said: “When I came to the club this season the only thing in everybody’s mind was getting out the bottom two. The club asked me if we could finish 10th, now they are asking me if we could finish a little bit higher than that.
“Obviously the supporters want to have a good cup run but cup football is different from league football.”