Kelly call-up only matter of time for Alexander
MOTHERWELL manager Graham Alexander has told Liam Kelly that his Scotland chance will come if he maintains the high standards he has set since joining the club in January.
Former Livingston keeper Kelly has been excellent since coming to Fir Park on loan from Queens Park Rangers in January, and he was disappointed to miss out on Steve Clarke’s latest Scotland squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers.
But Alexander, who himself earned 40 caps for Scotland having been called up for the first time at the age of 30, has told Kelly that if he keeps knocking on Clarke’s door by turning in consistently high performances, it will be answered with a call-up in the not too distant future.
“Scotland have more than 23 good players and it’s a big pool to choose from,” Alexander said. “The squad the manager’s chosen in the past has had success, so how you build a team is through consistency and every player who’s in that squad has probably built up a bank of credit to stay in the squad.
“I know from personal experience it’s not just about the 11 who play, it’s about the whole squad that trains and pushes the others. Steve Clarke will have a squad of players on the outside who are champing at the bit to get in the squad and I’m sure Liam Kelly will be among them.
“His form has been fantastic for us. He’s a great leader on and off the pitch, he’s brilliant on the training pitch, the will to win I want is epitomised by Liam. He was hopeful about the squad and I’m sure if he continues to play as he is and an opportunity arises he’ll be in Steve Clarke’s thinking.
It’s down to Liam to not let his standards drop because again, I know from my own experience, that opportunity could come at the drop of a hat. If you’re not ready to take it it’ll go to someone else.”
A win for Alexander’s men at Rugby Park today would
put a huge dent in bottom club Kilmarnock’s survival hopes, with the 13-point cushion it would open up on the hosts all-but securing Motherwell’s safety with just five games to play. Alexander isn’t one for resting on his laurels though.
“I’m not accepting anything until the end of the season, because I want the most points we can get from these last six games,” he said. “That’s what we’re after.”
Meanwhile, Tommy Wright believes keeping Kilmarnock in the Premiership would rank alongside any of his achievements in coaching.
Killie have taken one point from five games since the former St Johnstone boss took over. But Wright is convinced there is enough quality in his squad to get them out of trouble in the final six matches of the season.
“I knew it was going to be tough when I took the job,” he said. “I believed then I could do enough to keep us in this league and I still believe that.
“The enormity of the job now with the position we are in is massive. If we can do it, and that’s the aim, it will rank up with any achievements I have had in management/coaching.”
Killie have now taken only one point from a possible 30 and Wright could not deny the job was even harder than he first imagined.
“That would be a fair assumption, because in the games we maybe haven’t done enough over 90 minutes but also made basic errors which have cost us, and made mistakes that I don’t see Monday to Friday, just lapses of concentration,” he said.
One major positive has been the form of Wright’s only signing, Kyle Lafferty.
The Northern Ireland striker struck a double in a 3-2 defeat by Ross County.
“We have got into good areas and if we can keep getting into those areas and supplying Kyle, I think he will score more goals,” Wright said.
“He has been a lift to the other strikers. He is an absolute nightmare to manage on a daily basis but I think everybody knows that with Kyle. You can’t turn your back on him for one second. And that’s a good thing because he has added another wee edge to the spirit of the camp.”