Killie boss hails ‘class act’ on debut

Kilmarnock boss Lee Clark has hailed Julien Faubert as a “class act” after the former Real Madrid winger made his debut in Scottish football on Saturday as the Ladbrokes Premiership strugglers lost 1-0 to Hearts.

The 32-year-old, who had a trial spell at St Johnstone, signed a deal with Killie on Friday and was initially named on the bench at Tynecastle.

However, with the visitors under the cosh, Clark introduced his high-profile arrival after just 28 minutes, replacing Mark O’Hara, and Faubert turned in a steady debut.

The Killie boss said: “When you have someone with Julien Faubert’s experience you need to give him a chance when things aren’t going right for you. I thought he did a lot of good things – he looked a class act.

“He passed the ball well, used his knowledge of the game to win free-kicks and his delivery from set-plays was good. He also brings so much experience to the side. And that is him only at about 60% match fit.

A Jamie Walker goal after just seven minutes was enough to see off a stubborn Killie side, with the 22-year-old bundling home after Jamie MacDonald had spectacularly saved his penalty kick.

Hearts were awarded a second penalty after the break and once again MacDonald excelled, making a splendid low stop to deny Abiola Dauda.

Louis Moult’s double sent Motherwell on their way to a 3-1 victory over Partick Thistle which took them above their visitors in the table.

Moult took his season’s tally to 16 with a penalty and a neat finish either side of half-time and Marvin Johnson used his pace and skill to add a third on the break.

Connor Ripley handed Thistle a lifeline when he let in Callum Booth’s harmless-looking effort, but Motherwell held on for their first three points at Fir Park in 2016.

Julien Faubert: off the bench for his Kilmarnock debut.