Just like Bonnie Tyler, Derek McInnes is Holding Out for a Hero between now and the summer.
Combined, Kilmarnock’s recognised strikers – Kyle Vassell, Scott Robinson, Christian Doidge, and Innes Cameron - have just six goals between them all season.
Albeit two of those players have suffered major injury issues and McInnes was hardly helped when he lost both Oli Shaw and Kyle Lafferty on the final day of the January transfer window.
However, the underlying numbers suggest that it just hasn’t been good enough in an attacking sense from Killie this season. Coupled with the second-worst defensive record in the league, it’s clear to see why they’re so threatened by an immediate relegation back to the Championship.
Danny Armstrong has enjoyed a stellar campaign with nine goals and seven assists, while both Joe Wright and Ash Taylor have each contributed with four goals.
McInnes is hopeful either one of his frontline options can start producing the goods to steer the Rugby Park club to top-flight safety.
He said: “I’m not saying anything I’ve not said to our front players. I think different people chipping in – defenders, midfielders, Danny Armstrong has been strong with his numbers – is always good.
“But I think any team is dependent on that number nine who can maybe make the difference in games.
“There’s been a lot of tight games, particularly on the road, where we’ve been good enough to get something from it but we’ve not been able to take chances. I just hope that somebody can catch fire.
“We’ve been a bit restricted. It’s no secret we were trying to bring in different forward options. But they are always the toughest ones to get.
“I believe we are good enough to go and get the points that are enough to keep us in the division. Ultimately, we are going to call on everything. Every strength that we’ve got as a club. We saw the strength last year.
“Last time we lost to Inverness, in the third last game of last season, we responded with one of the most memorable nights here against Arbroath. The fans could not have played a bigger part that day.
“So, we’re looking for everybody to play a part. It’s a connection. The fans recognising effort and ability on the pitch but also the players trying to get involved in that as well and getting right behind us.
“If out of the 10 games we get a couple of lads chipping in with three and four goals, someone producing five or six goals, it can be the difference for us.
“Everybody’s looking for those ones, whether it’s to win the title, to get into Europe, or to get into the top six, and certainly in our case if we get someone scoring regularly then it will help us to be a Premier League team next season, as I believe we will be.”
In the aftermath of last Friday’s disaster in the Highlands, the 51-year-old referenced his side’s need to find an identity.
This caused understandable confusion amongst the fan base, but he elaborated on what he meant by those comments.
“When your own game isn’t on point you need to make sure your direct opponent isn’t affecting the game,” he explained. “I felt that's where we let ourselves down on Friday. It’s the old adage, my first and last manager would have told me, you might not always affect the game, but you need to make sure the other guy doesn’t have an influence.
“The Inverness players had too much influence and that’s what I meant about identity. We need to be tougher to play against and we don’t give teams the encouragement we did the other night.
“We came in on Monday and had a meeting. We spoke about the Inverness game and why we lost – we have to deal with that first and foremost.
“The situation we are now in with 10 games to go, arguably every one of them is bigger than a semi-final.
“We put the demand on ourselves to be a really strong cup team and there’s no doubt there’s huge disappointment at the missed opportunity.
“I predicted the winner of our tie would get the winner of the Ayr v Falkirk game and that will eat away at us for a while."
With Liam Polworth out injured on Saturday, McInnes admitted 18-year-old David Watson comes into contention.
The boss also touched upon the club's AGM - an evening he felt was largely positive.
He added: “There was a lot of clarity from the directors in terms of the financial situation, the real positive about the training ground.
“From what Billy Bowie said, there’s a real energy to improve the club and an understanding from my point of view in terms of scope to look at things in the summer.
“We just need to make sure we are a Premiership club, but I’ve had a good level of support from the board and we are all working towards the same thing.
“There is a long-term plan here but in the short-term, we need to deal with the here and now.
“If we do that there will be far more scope to put a team on the pitch to meet the demands.”
