Killie boss Clarke glad he’ll no longer be ‘pestered’ about Scotland job
MOTHERWELL V KILMARNOCK
Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke admits he is relieved he will no longer be “pestered” about the Scotland job.
Alex Mcleish has been named as the new national team manager but Clarke was tipped as a serious contender to replace Gordon Strachan.
Now he plans to rededicate his full attention to his current job after seeing former international team-mate Mcleish land the Hampden post.
Clarke said: “The media has been pestering me non-stop about it but as far as I was concerned it was never a story.
“There was never an approach from the SFA [Scottish Football Association] and it was never encouraged from this side of the table.
“I’m happy to be here working for Kilmarnock and hopefully we can continue what we’ve been doing recently.”
Killie had just six points when Clarke was named as Lee Mcculloch’s successor in mid-october. Having fought back with ten men to beat Dundee in midweek, they can now move into the top six with victory over Motherwell today.
Clarke said: “After a result like Tuesday’s you get a little euphoria because it’s such a good feeling to come back from a difficult situation to win the game. But we have managed to calm them down over the last few days.
“We’ve got 32 points and that’s still not enough. We need more. We need to get further away from the bottom.
“We only had six points the day I turned up. We’ve come a long way since then but we’ve still got a long way to go.
“We go to Fir Park tomorrow for a really difficult game and we’ll have to be at our very best to get something.”
Motherwell’s Chris Cadden admits his side need to take advantage of their home games to finish in the top six as they prepare for the visit of nearest rivals Kilmarnock.
Motherwell are sixth ahead of today’s clash but in-form Killie only trail on goals scored and have two games in hand.
Cadden said: “I don’t know if it’s a must-win game but for me, if you want to finish top six, you have got to be beating teams in and around you at home. I think that’s what we have done this year.
“The first thing the gaffer [Stephen Robinson] said this season was we want to make Fir Park a fortress and a tough place to play, and I think results have shown we have done that.”
Cadden will make his 101st Motherwell appearance against Killie and the 21-yearold admits hitting the century mark in last weekend’s William Hill Scottish Cup win at Dundee was special.
“It was a brilliant feeling,” the Scotland Under-21 international said. “When I was growing up, my goal when I was going through the youth ranks was just to play one game at Fir Park.
“A hundred is a brilliant achievement for me and no one can take it away from me. I was really proud.”