In the meantime, after the trip to London both manager and player seem to agree that staying at Rugby Park is the best course of action for now. Jefferies went on: "I think Steven was always a bit concerned that if he got a move, it might not lead to a regular first-team place. It was something he was not too sure of about going to a big club, being stuck in the reserves, but he knows clubs will always be interested if he continues to perform well." Naismith will return to the Kilmarnock team for the game against Aberdeen on Saturday. Jefferies afforded the player a week off to recharge his batteries after a turbulent few weeks and the manager is already noticing the benefits. He said: "I told Steven to go away and not report back until last Monday. He knows that over the past few weeks he's not been at his best and it's not his fault, it's the circumstances. So he had a couple of days away in Spain then took a trip down to London shopping with his girlfriend and we've definitely seen a difference in him since he's come back. He couldn't wait to get back into training on Monday and he's looking sharper and brighter so I think the rest has done him good. So he's really only had an hour of playing in the last three weeks. He's not really had a break because he was down at Arsenal and away with the Scotland Under-21s. So he's not really had the rest that some of the other players have and he's still a young boy - he's just turned 20 - so it was good to give him a break and we'll hopefully see the benefit against Aberdeen. The Arsenal stuff got on a top of him a wee bit. His adrenaline would have been flowing wondering what was happening and the type of player he is it was always a case of looking to give him a wee break. But now he's refreshed and ready to go again." | ||
Editorial Team |
