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Daily Record
National
Lochlin Highet

Christian Doidge hoping Kilmarnock is place he can reignite form and get firing

Christian Doidge is desperate to get going in a bid to reignite his career.

The Welsh striker penned a loan deal with Kilmarnock on August 31 – and he’s still waiting to make his debut.

Hibs opted to send him to Rugby Park until the end of the season, and he was ineligible for a trip to his parent club and paperwork delays meant he couldn’t feature against Hearts in the League Cup.

He was hoping to grace the Rugby Park pitch on Saturday against St Johnstone, but games across the country were postponed as a mark of respect towards Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth who died last Thursday.

And now ahead of the trip to Livingston he’s hoping he can make a positive impact as Killie bid to get back to winning ways.

He said: “I hope this is the place I can reignite my form, I just want to get back to enjoying football again.

“I want to win games of football like everyone else, it has been stop/start due to injuries and Covid, hopefully I can put that behind me.

“I think you are always wanting to show people you can compete at a high level, where I’ve come from and the levels I’ve played at, I’ve done more than I ever thought I’d do.

“I am extremely grateful for that, I turn up every day and work as hard as I possibly can.

“I was maybe a little surprised Hibs felt they didn’t need me, but I don’t make those decisions I just turn up to training and games.

“I’ve got a new team now and I’m looking forward to helping them.”

Doidge admits Derek McInnes was a huge factor in choosing Rugby Park as his new home, but insists the experienced gaffer will make him work for a spot in the team.

He said: “I had a lot of options down south, but I just really enjoy playing in this league.

“It’s a really big league, you play against top teams so I wasn’t prepared to move away, especially if it was a loan.

Christian Doidge (SNS Group)

“As soon as I spoke to the manager here it made me want to move straight away.

“I have played against his sides loads of times, they are ultra competitive, really hard to play against and organised.

“It looks like that’s what he’s done here so it’s nice to be part of it.

“He said that I’ll be involved but it’s up to me to get into the starting XI, I have come here to play.

“There’s great players here, hopefully we can compliment each other.

“There hasn’t been any promises in terms of game time, I wouldn’t want that, I need to earn my place in the team.

“All of the strikers here are all really good players, everyone adds something different to help the team.

“Innes [Cameron] scored against Hearts, Oli [Shaw] has played well and [Kyle] Lafferty is just Lafferty, it’s going to be really hard.

“I don’t know if the manager will play one or two up front, we just need to train well and see who plays.”

Doidge added: “This a Premiership club 100 per cent, they are are massive club.

“There has been 5,000 season tickets sold, that’s really impressive.

“It’s a club that’s going in the right direction, obviously there’s momentum from being promoted, there’s a lot of lads still here from that, they are buzzing.”

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