Clarke’s transfer frustration

available on loan and who is available for nothing, as that is the market we’re working in.

“We’re working the market hard, although nothing has really fallen for us at the moment. We’ll keep looking.”

There were positive signs, though, as Ndjoli grabbed his first Killie goal during Saturday’s 4-2 Betfred Cup win over Dumbarton.

The pacey wideman buried a leveller just after half-time and showed some nice touches.

“It was nice for Mikael to get off the mark on Saturday,” said Clarke, whose side required a late hat-trick from substitute Kris Boyd as they avoided an embarrassing slip-up against the League One side. “The pitch was a little bit sticky for guys like him who like to dribble with the ball. You saw two or three times the dribblers getting the ball stuck under their feet. But Mikael is a young boy and we need to give him time to develop.

“We’re going to help him improve and, as he develops, he can make a good contribution to our team.”