Kyle Lafferty fancies that he has the goals in him that will stave off any relegation threat for Kilmarnock this season.

The Rugby Park side have an intense five game finale to their campaign as they look to engineer their way out of trouble. 

With just two points between the bottom three teams Saturday’s game against Ross County will be significant for Kilmarnock. The Highlanders are currently a point better off than Tommy Wright’s side but Lafferty coming up with the goals can be the solution to the problems that have plagued Kilmarnock this term.  

There is no confidence issue with the 33-year-old who has now netted six goals for the club since his arrival in early February. And the striker looks likely to add a few more before he gets to the end of his short-term deal with the club.  

“I have come here to save the team, hopefully that’s what I can do,” he said. “When I came in people said that we had enough on the squad, and I think we did. But there was something missing, now though it seems to be gelling together. 

“I think we realised that we are in a relegation battle, no one wants to be part of the team that gets a club relegated after so long in the league.  

“We look forward to a massive game against Ross County now,” said Lafferty. “If we play the way we have been then it will be an interesting game and I am sure we can win it. Nothing has changed since Tommy Wright’s first game in terms of performances. 

“The quality has always been there, but I think we are finding our feet at the right time now.  It was always going to be a huge battle, we had to start winning games, so the Motherwell game and the cup game were important wins.  It has been a long time since we won two games in a row, we are picking up momentum and that’s happening at the right time. 

“We will go into the Ross County game in a professional manner and we will attack it like we did against Motherwell.”

Lafferty is reluctant to look beyond the end of the season but the fact he has become the club’s second top goalscorer this season in less than two months suggests a long-term deal for the player would be a sensible call from Kilmarnock. So much, though, will be determined by whether or not the Ayrshire side can stay in the top flight. 

“I can score as many goals as I like, but if we don’t stay up at the end of the season then it’s pointless to be honest,” he said. "I love scoring goals. It feels good and I didn't want to come off on Saturday - I was enjoying myself too much. 

“I am playing football close to my family. I am here until the end of the season, we will speak about it [a contract] after. Hopefully the club will still be in the Premiership. I think we will be. 

“We will speak about it after that, but the manager has promised he’ll buy me a bulldog if we stay up... as long as I call it Wrighty!” 

Meanwhile, Stenhousemuir defender Mark McGuigan has warned that lower league clubs face injury issues as they try to make up ground following the suspension earlier in the campaign due to the Covid crisis. 

“There’s no doubt it’s a lot for part-time players to deal with when you’re juggling day jobs as well,” he said. “I’m guessing there will be a lot of muscular problems over the next few weeks because there’s just so little time to recover between games. We go to Brechin on Tuesday, it’s Cowdenbeath and Queen’s Park at home on Thursday and Saturday, the Elgin at home next Tuesday and for us these games are all much more important than this Cup tie was.”