Kyle Lafferty admits it’s nice being in the league title hunt – but Kilmarnock need to make sure it stays that way.
A fine 2-1 home victory over Partick Thistle – twinned with Arbroath drawing 3-3 at home to Raith Rovers – sent Killie four points clear in the cinch Championship race with five games left.
It was the Northern Irishman’s double with goals in each half that sealed the three points for Killie, before a late Connor Murray strike led to a nervy end for the Rugby Park side.
And Lafferty says now it’s time to start seeing out games and making sure they bag the title and bounce back to the Premiership at first time of asking.
He said: “It’s good to be top, we are four clear with five left. But those five games are against teams fighting for something.
“It is five cup finals for us never mind the teams we are playing. The title is far from over.
“Against Ayr we went up 3-0 then took our foot off the gas, on Saturday we went 2-0 up and took our foot off the gas again.
“We have to learn how to see games out and manage them.
“Rather than seeing the game out relaxed we had a nervy final five minutes which isn’t good for your heart.”
He added: “This club should be in the Premiership, they spent 28 years there.
“But me being part of the team being relegated was a low point in my career, the only way to put that right is by getting them straight back up.
“There are players in the squad like Burkey (Chris) and Rory (McKenzie) who have been here a long time and they all want this club back to the Premiership where they belong.”
Lafferty reckons that despite being four clear with five games left that it can all still change.
He said: “The points difference changes nothing at all, four points can be overturned easily.
“We were five points behind not so long ago, that’s when we thought our title was going elsewhere.
“We had a talk and knew that if we didn’t start producing then we’d be fighting until the end of May in the playoffs.
“No one wants to play games you don’t need to.”
Killie have hit peak form at the right time.
It’s now seven unbeaten in the league for Derek McInnes’s side, and just one draw in that time means it’s 19 points from the last possible 21.
Lafferty said: “The manager coming in is a big part of our form, everyone believes in him.
“We have got a good group of lads and everyone wants the same thing, even the guys who are on the bench they are doing the right things and showing the manager he can trust them.
“We have got a good group now, we will see how it goes.”
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