Relaxed Stewart aims to end year on ultimate high
GREG STEWART last night set his sights on nailing down a maximum nine points to keep Kilmarnock right in the mix at the winter break — after admitting the Rugby Park players can’t stop laughing and joking about being back on top of the Premiership table.
The former Dundee striker scored yesterday as Killie beat Dundee 3-1 at home to move a point ahead of second-placed Celtic, having played three games more.
They have visits to Hamilton and Motherwell ahead of them before heading off on their threeweek January holiday following a home match against St Mirren on December 29 — and Stewart is in no doubt they should be looking to win all three.
However, he scoffs when asked about how seriously the players discuss the prospect of some kind of title challenge amongst themselves.
‘Look, it’s good that we’re back on top again with Celtic and Rangers not playing, but the players just have a joke about it, to be honest,’ said Stewart.
‘It doesn’t matter where you are right now. It’s only later in the season you look at where you are and think: “We’ve maybe got a wee chance here”.
‘Right now, we’re just enjoying our football. It is going to be difficult, but we are looking to take maximum points (before the winter break), yeah.
‘We are at that stage where we feel we can go into any game and beat anybody if we play the way we know we can.’
Stewart knew there was a need for Killie to return to form yesterday, following their 5-1 loss at Celtic Park last weekend.
‘We spoke about bouncing back after the Celtic game,’ he said. ‘We wanted three points and a good performance — and we’re actually a wee bit disappointed that we didn’t score more.
‘We upped a gear in the second half. At half-time, we were annoyed that we hadn’t scored. I missed a good chance myself but, when you play in this team, the opportunities will keep on coming.
‘Luckily, I managed to put one away at the end.’
Stewart has now netted eight league goals and is just one behind Rangers marksman Alfredo Morelos at the top of the scoring charts.
‘This is as good as I have felt in a long time,’ he said. ‘Goals get your confidence back and I go into every game thinking I am going to score, which is a good feeling as a striker.’
Dundee did make life easy for Killie in the second half with some desperate defending and manager Jim McIntyre could not hide his frustration after the final whistle.
‘First half, we were compact, stuffy, but we cut through Kilmarnock,’ he said. ‘We weren’t ruthless enough and that came back to bite us.
‘As soon as the goal went in, for some reason we looked like a team that I have not seen for a number of weeks.
‘We were playing as individuals and making really poor decisions.’