Kilmarnock sign Spanish striker Borja in bid to boost firepower

Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels has moved to solve his goalscoring problem by signing Spaniard Borja following a successful trial spell.

The 30-year-old, full name Borja Perez-Penas Diaz-Maurino, will be tasked with filling the boots of creative attacking midfielder Dean Shiels following his move to Rangers.

Borja has spent most of his career in the second and third tiers of Spanish football, latterly with Alicante and Alcorcon, for whom he scored two goals in a 4-0 Copa del Rey victory over Real Madrid in 2009.

Shiels, whose team have scored one goal in two drawn Clydesdale Bank Premier League games, said: “Borja Perez has signed until the end of the season. He plays at the top of the midfield, the same as Dean Shiels, so we are trying to get that creativity into the team.

“We need finishers as well but he is one that certainly I am pleased to get. We will probably need a goalscorer to take the pressure off Paul Heffernan and Rory Boulding.

“But Rory Boulding has some education in how he plays now so he is hopefully ready to play from the start quite soon.”

Boulding signed from Livingston in the summer while Heffernan is unlikely to play until October or November after breaking his collarbone.

Shiels is looking to add a loan striker with some creative transfer negotiations. “It would have to be someone we get on loan where it would be a case of no wages,” he said. “I’m looking for a European club that would pay the wages and see this as an academy for their 19-20-year-old players to learn the game, because we play a European game. So I’m hopeful we provide that for some of the European clubs and that might be appealing to them. They are looking at it.”

Shiels believes a goal threat is all that has been missing in draws against Dundee and Inverness. The Kilmarnock manager, whose team host Motherwell tomorrow, added: “If we had that we could have won both games, but we have ended up dropping four points.

“But we drew our first two games last season and you have to be very conscious of the fact that the season has only started, we are not ready, the teams we are playing are not ready. There was a bundle of draws at the start of last season and this season. The last three teams to come up to the Premier have drawn 0-0, it’s an example of teams just not being ready.”