Mos trials last a week or two at the most but Kilmarnock had to wait two months to get their man

Steven Old is relieved to have finally signed a three-year contract with Kilmarnock. New Zealand defender Old, who had been on trial at Rugby Park for more than two months, finally put pen to paper after being granted a work permit following a hearing at Hampden on Monday. He said: "It feels like a 10-tonne truck's been lifted off my shoulders. I'm so, so happy that it's come through and I'm ready to get playing football." Despite his frustration at being unable to play for the club while still a trialist, Old believes the settling-in period could ultimately work in his favour. He said: "I guess in a way it's been a blessing in disguise because you don't want to get thrown into the deep end when you start playing and you don't really know the players that well. But I've been training with them for the last eight weeks and I know them in and out now, so it's great."

However, now he has been given the green light, Old has no intention of remaining in the shadows. He said: "Like any player, I'm wanting to do well for myself and the club and to have some clean sheets, to get the club moving forward, especially escaping relegation this year and look forward to next year. It's going to be awesome."

Manager Jim Jefferies was also relieved finally to get his man. He said: "Having had Steven here on trial since January 22, it shows you how keen we were to get him. It's been a long process because there was so much information to gather and contracts to negotiate before going to the work permit appeal panel. He has to fly back to New Zealand as soon as possible to get his passport stamped at the British Consulate in Wellington and then return to Scotland. Steven is short of match practice at the moment and will probably be looking at a fresh start with the rest of the squad in the pre-season, but never say never. If any opportunities come up before the end of this season, we may put him in. He is the right age with international experience and we've been looking for a while now to bring in a young centre-back as Ryan O'Leary is the only one we have at the moment. The two have formed a good partnership in training."

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