St Johnstone 0 - 1 Kilmarnock: Burchill in the hunt for longer deal after first start for Killie

Published on Sunday 6 December 2009 23:27

MARK Burchill hopes to secure a long-term deal with Kilmarnock after finally making his first start for the club on Saturday and playing a key role in only their second away win of 2009.

The former Celtic and Dunfermline striker set up Kevin Kyle to score the only goal of the game after 15 minutes at McDiarmid Park as the Rugby Park outfit ended a run of four consecutive defeats.

The 29-year-old was recruited on a one-year deal in the summer but sustained an Achilles tendon injury before kicking a ball in competitive action and, after surgery, has had to battle back to full fitness. However, having helped inspire the Ayrshire side to three important points, the Scotland cap is hopeful of proving he merits a longer stay at the club.

Burchill said: "I was delighted, obviously, to get a start. It's been an absolute nightmare since I joined the club with the injury. So just to get back in the team was great and probably the most vital thing was to get the points because we've been struggling for points.

"I would definitely like to stay on. We'll wait and see but I would like to stay here long term if I can. It's been difficult for myself because I've been out. I've just been trying to impress in training and obviously I've done that enough to get a start.

"I did all right on Saturday and I'll be looking to build on that in every game. As a striker it takes four, five or six games for you to really get to where you want to be."

Chances were few and far between for Burchill against St Johnstone as the Perth men dominated possession but failed to convert the chances they created.

The victory, their first on the road since their win against Motherwell on the final day of last season, has eased the pressure that was building after they had slumped to second from bottom and only a point above basement boys Falkirk. However, Burchill is hopeful the win can kick-start a revival of fortunes at Rugby Park.

He added: "We are delighted with the three points. We heard on the radio on the way to the game that we had only won once away from home in 2009, so we were all kind of looking at each other saying, 'We need to change that'.

"We didn't play great, we're not kidding anyone on saying we did, but we got the three points.

"It was a wee boost for us knowing that Falkirk had been beaten but we've just got to concentrate on ourselves. If we start playing the way we can and start putting in the chances we're creating then I think we'll start going up the league."

St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes bemoaned his team's inability to capitalise on their domination of a frustrating 90 minutes. However, he is hopeful the first appearance of Peter MacDonald since March, following an injury lay-off, can help. He said: "It's good to get the return of any player. Peaso's got a decent scoring record at this club in terms of his goal ratio and I'm delighted to have other options. It was a positive that he was back on the pitch on Saturday."