Lethal Lafferty confident he can be Killie’s safety net
AFTER scoring a hat-trick against Stenhousemuir on Saturday in a 4-0 win, Kyle Lafferty fancies he has the goals in him that will stave off any relegation threat for Kilmarnock this season.
The Rugby Park side have an intense five-game finale to their campaign as they look to engineer their way out of trouble.
With just two points between the bottom three teams, Saturday’s game against Ross County will be significant for Kilmarnock. The Highlanders are a point better off than Tommy
Wright’s side but Lafferty coming up with the goals can be the solution to the problems that have plagued Kilmarnock.
There is no confidence issue with the 33-year-old who has now netted six goals since his arrival in February. And the striker looks likely to add a few more before he gets to the end of his short-term deal.
“I have come here to save the team, hopefully that’s what I can do,” he said. “When I came in people said that we had enough in the squad, and I think we did. But there was something missing, now though it seems to be gelling together.
“I think we realised that we are in a relegation battle, no one wants to be part of the team that gets a club relegated after so long in the league.
“We look forward to a massive game against Ross County now. If we play the way we have been then it will be an interesting game and I am sure we can win it. Nothing has changed since Tommy Wright’s first game in terms of performances.
“The quality has always been there, but I think we are finding our feet at the right time now. It was always going to be a huge battle, we had to start winning games, so the Motherwell game and the cup game were important wins. It has been a long time since we won two games in a row, we are picking up momentum and that’s happening at the right time.”
Lafferty is reluctant to look beyond the end of the season but the fact he has become the club’s second top goalscorer in less than two months suggests a long-term deal would be a possibility.
“I can score as many goals as I like, but if we don’t stay up at the end of the season then it’s pointless to be honest,” he said. “I am here until the end of the season, we will speak about it [a contract] after. Hopefully the club will still be in the Premiership. I think we will be.”